


Crazy in Love

by stormywanderer



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2019-09-27 11:24:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 36,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17161103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormywanderer/pseuds/stormywanderer
Summary: There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable. Being Rick Grimes' eldest daughter doesn't make it easy for Daisy. Will love overcome hate?





	1. Chapter 1

The sun had started rising in the east. A big, almost threatening ball of red fire crawling up along the horizon. A fresh gust of wind tucked at the shirt of the young woman sitting on top of the lookout. 

“Your shift is over, Daisy. You should go catch some sleep.” Tara said as she climbed up the stairs and touched her shoulder gently. 

Daisy flinched a little as she snapped out of her slumber. “Huh? Oh, it’s you,”she mumbled sleepily and looked up. “Are they back?”

Her father, her brother and several of their group had been gone all night long since Maggie desperately needed a doctor. The plan was to take her to the Hilltop. Tara shook her head with an expression Daisy couldn’t quite read.

“It’s been an entire night. They should be back by now.”Daisy got up and stretched her back a little. On the other side of the fence that surrounded the little town of Alexandria everything was quiet. No walker, no other threat. And no sign of her family and friends. 

“Do you think they ran into trouble? With those saviors?” she looked at Tara again but she just shrugged.

“Let’s hope not. Now please, you look terrible. Go to bed.” 

She nodded. “See you later.” She then climbed down the stairs and wandered to her house where she was living together with her father, brother and her little babysister Judith. First thing she did once she returned was heading upstairs to check on the baby. Judith was still asleep. She looked so very peaceful. It was amazing to see how much she had grown by now, her hair so curly. Gently she stroked over the girl’s blonde hair and then lowered down on the makeshift bed close to the window. She opened the window to get some fresh air into the room and to be able to hear if anything happened outside. Yet as soon as her head touched the pillow she was already fast asleep. 

It was early afternoon as the sound of a gate opening and closing made her wake up again. Quickly she got up and looked outside. A relieved smile curled her lips and she hurried downstairs and outside. But in the second she got a closer look at her father she could see something was wrong. Terribly wrong. In all the years they’d been on the road, trying to survive, she had never seen him like this. He looked broken. 

“Dad?”she said as she stopped in front of him. “Are you okay?” 

Rick looked at her with glossy eyes and pulled her into a tight hug. She hugged him back and looked over at Carl. She broke the embrace and stepped back. “What happened to you? Where is…where is Daryl? Abraham? Glenn? Did they stay at the Hilltop?” 

Michonne placed a hand on Rick’s shoulder. “We ran into trouble.”

“Trouble? What trouble? Is everyone okay?” 

Silently she shook her head. “The saviors got us. Negan himself got us.” 

Daisy felt her heart drop just by looking into her father’s eyes while Michonne continued, “He took Daryl with him.” 

“Is Maggie safe?”

Rick and Michonne shared a quick look. “Yes, she is safe. She is at the Hilltop.”Rick said.

“And…Glenn? Abraham?” she asked once more even though she preferred not to hear the answer.

“They didn’t…they didn’t make it.” Rick almost whispered. 

Her eyes grew wide in shock. “But…No…no, that’s not true. Glenn cannot be gone. He cannot be…”

Daisy, just like Rick, knew Glenn right from the beginning. He had saved her from a herd of walkers when shit had hit the fan seven years ago. She had been 12 back then and was with her mom and Carl heading to Atlanta. They were separated for a moment and she found herself in a dark alley with no exit since walkers had started blocking both streets. She remembered Glenn suddenly leaving through a back door of the building right in front of her. She remembered it like it was yesterday, both of them squeaking in surprise since each of them thought the other was one of those creepy walkers. Together they had made it out of the city and she was reunited with her family again on a campground just outside the city. And now he was gone. Forever. Maggie had lost her husband. The last link of a family she had left. Her baby would grow up without its father. In this very moment Daisy couldn’t hold the tears back any longer. She felt them running down her cheek. 

“Why?”she breathed. “Why did he do that? What did Glenn do?” 

“Nothing. No one did anything”Rick said trying to comfort her as he embraced her again, pressing his lips on top of her head. “It was no ones fault. Negan is a sociopathic, mentally deranged monster. He kills for no reason.”

“Are we gonna fight him? We are, right?”she looked up at him with a dangerous twinkle in her green eyes. “We can’t let him get away with killing our friends.” 

“We will. But we need a plan. We need more weapons and more people.” 

She nodded. “Right. So, what are we waiting for? We should start collecting everything we can.”

Rick shook his head. “Not yet, Daisy. It’s not that easy.”

“Not that easy? What do you mean?”

Michonne stepped up again. “He’ll come here in a week. He will collect half of our belongings in exchange for us being safe.” 

She stared at them. “And you agreed?” 

“What other choice do we have? Daisy, he outnumbers us. He has a  _lot_ more people than we have. He has a lot more guns. And he has no problem with killing each and every one of us if we don’t act according to his rules. But that doesn’t mean we will give up. We will rise up once the time is right. You understand that, do you?” Rick said. 

Silently she nodded. Of course, she understood. Yet, she wasn’t happy about it. “I wish I could kick his ass when he comes here.”

“Believe me, I wanna do the same.” Carl said. 

The siblings shared a long look, a silent agreement forming between them to never give up. To stand up and fight tooth and nail. 


	2. Chapter 2

Five days had passed since the incident with the Saviors and naturally everyone who was directly involved was still in shock. Daisy wished she could do something to distract her brother a bit and so she had spent most of the morning looking for something suitable. 

“Hey…look what I found,” she said as she sat next to Carl on the front porch of their house. She placed the bucket of chocolate pudding on the small table between them. “It’s the last one left and…well, I thought before they come and take it away from us we should eat it all.” she grinned and offered him one of the two spoons she had brought.   
Carl took it with a half hearted smile and she opened the lid. The smell of chocolate immmediately invaded their noses and genuine happiness spread on their faces as they dug into the pudding.

“Isn’t it funny how even the tiniest bits of chocolate can make you happy again? Who needs drugs if you have chocolate, right?” she said and took another spoonful. 

He nodded. “That’s right. Thanks for saving it for us.”

“Can’t let those bastards take  _all_ of the good stuff.”

And so they sat together, simply enjoying the silence, the taste of pudding and much more important: each other’s company. 

After a little while she cast a glance at him. He looked back at her. “What?”he asked uncertainly.

“I know this will bring back some memories but…can I ask you something?”

He shrugged. “Sure. What is it?”

“What…what does Negan look like?” She felt stupid asking such a trivial question, yet ever since the name Negan came up among their group way before the direct encounter with the man she had wondered what kind of man he was. Sure, she knew he was a sick, psychopathic maniac. A monster. Still, she wondered if he looked like one too. She always imagined him as some short, burly guy just like most of the bullies back in highschool looked like. Then again some of the most notorious serial killers had looked like the most charming men. 

“You don’t have to tell me. You know, I’m aware it’s a very sensitive topic but…you’re one of the strongest persons I know. Hell, you’re my little brother and sometimes you’re stronger than I am. Mentally, I mean.” she grinned cheekily to lighten the mood a little.

“Not just mentally,”he chuckled. “I could beat you in an arm wrestling contest anytime.”

She smiled and ruffled his hair a bit. “Sure you can, little bro.”

They fell silent again. Then Carl sighed. “I don’t even know what to tell you. He’s…different than I expected. He’s not your typical kind of bully. He’s tall. He’s…he looks a bit like straight out of that one musical film…you know…the one with John Travolta? You forced me to watch it when I was little.”

“Grease?”

“Yes! Slick hair combed back. Leather jacket and some stupid red scarf. Yeah, that’s how I’d describe him…like a masculine version of Travolta in Grease.”

She blinked surprised. “Seriously? That’s like…the completel opposite of what I imagined. So he really is more like the Ted Bundy kind of killer. Lookwise I mean.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, guess so. You’ll see for yourself in two days.”

“I honestly thought about avoiding him…somehow.”

“You mean hiding? I guess that won’t work. They come here to search our stuff. They will most likely seach every house too. There’s no place for you to hide.”

“Now that sounds really creepy. But I guess you’re right. Besides…I’m a Grimes. We don’t hide. We stand up and look danger in the eye. We’ve been through so much..we beat the Governor and his henchmen.”

“The thing is those two are so different. The Governor was like…neutral evil. Negan is chaotic evil. He’s unpredictable. That’s far worse.”

They both looked up when suddenly the sounds of cars came wavering over. They shared a quick look and got up. Someone whistled almost cheerfully and banged against the gate. 

“Little pig, little pig. Let…me…in!”Negan called in a sing-sang voice. Spencer shared a look with Eugene and Rosita who stood both with him closer to the gates. Daisy from a bit afar was about to descent the steps but Carl took her hand and stopped her, shaking his head a little. “Stay. I’ll go get dad.” 

She looked back towards the gate while Carl left her standing on the porch, her heart pounding in her chest. Fear started filling her very heart and soul. Why was he here? According to Rick they had still two days. But that had obviously been a lie by Negan. 

She saw Spencer pushing the visual cover of the gate aside and revealed a man she immediately knew could only be him. Carl did quite a good description of him. A cold shiver ran down her spine as she spotted the barb-wired baseball bat. Even though she hadn’t been there that night but the mere thought of Abraham and Glen being beaten to death with it made her sick to her stomach. 

And she felt even sicker as she saw her father talking to that madman until finally he didn’t seem to have another choice but to open the gate for him and his henchmen. Rick stepped aside as Negan walked past him through the gate. She squinted her eyes a little confused as Negan pushed the bat into her father’s hand and walked past him. One part of her wanted nothing more than her father beating him to death with it. But that wouldn’t change anything at all and she knew that. Before he could haul off, Negan’s men would shoot him. And she didn’t want to imagine that at all. She slid a bit more into the shadow and listened as Negan exclaimed, 

“Hot diggity dog! This place is magnificent. An embarrasment of riches, as they say.” he looked back at Rick. “Yes, sir, I do believe you are gonna have plenty to offer up.” 

Rick turned and approached Daryl. “Daryl, hey….”

Even from her position she could see the anger in Negan’s eyes as he turned and approached the two of them. “No. Nope. He’s the help. You don’t look at him, you don’t talk to him, and I don’t make you chop anything off of him. Same goes for everyone, right?”he called louder. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road. See what kind of goodies you got in the cupboard.” 

“We put aside half of the supplies.”Rick began but was immediately cut off again by him as he said, 

“No, Rick. No. You don’t decide what we take. I do.” He then looked at one of the women of his group and addressed her. “Arat!” 

She nodded. “You heard the man! Move out!” she called and the group started moving along the road towards the houses. Daisy gasped and quickly hurried inside and upstairs. She locked herself into the room with Judith, the girl was thankfully asleep. She slid down along the wall and sat onto the floor, silently praying no one would come up and find them. She didn’t want to face any of them. 

Especially not Negan himself.


	3. Chapter 3

Minute after minute ticked by and Daisy wondered how long Negan and his group would stay. She shuffled towards the window and peeked outside. She saw some men carry stuff away, even mattresses and food. Her hand curled to a fist as anger boiled inside her chest. She kinda expected this to happen yet seeing it with her own eyes was so different.

Suddenly she gasped as one man looked over at the house. She duck away, heart beating rapidly as she clutched her hands together silently hoping he hadn’t seen her. She didn’t really fear for her own life but that of her little sister. She couldn’t risk those guys to see Judith. Negan was a man who seemed to enjoy the shit out of scaring and intimidating other people. He already had Daryl and she was sure he’d take Judith too just to torture her father. 

Silently she walked to the door and pressed her ear against it, holding her breath as she tried to hear footsteps downstairs, but there was only silence. It seemed they hadn’t taken any interest in their house yet. Oh, she cursed herself though for not bringing any kind of weapon upstairs with her. If anyone would try take Judith she’d shoot them without a doubt. Just as this thought had formed in her mind it exploded again as a gunshot outside ripped through the air. She winced and stared at the window. No, no, no, this couldn’t be good. No matter which group would start a fight there’d be casualties on both sides. She looked over at the bed but Judith just cooed a little in her sleep. 

“I’ll be back. Please, stay asleep and quiet.” she said and opened the door and closed it. She turned the key around and pushed it into the pocket of her pants. Quickly, she hurried downstairs and through the backdoor. As she rounded the corner she saw Negan striding towards the doctor’s office. Her father followed him and she could feel the tension coming from them. She waited til they were inside the office before she came out of her hiding place and hurried after them. As she reached the building she pressed her back against the wall next to the entrance and tried to listen. 

“Put some back, or the next one goes in you.” 

She closed her eyes and sighed inwardly.  _“Oh Carl, why?”_ she thought.

Whoever he pointed his gun at didn’t sound too impressed as the man chuckled. “Kid…what do you think happens next?” he said ominously yet it was clear as crystal what would happen next if Carl would really kill the man or men he was threatening at this moment. 

“You die.” Carl replied. 

“Carl,” she could hear her father say. The fear in his voice was evident. “Carl, put it down. 

_Yes, put it down, you fool._

“No,” her brother growled. “He’s taking all of our medicine. They said only half our stuff!”

Daisy shifted a little to peek inside. There he was. Carl pointing his gun at some guy, her father standing helplessly next to him while Negan slowly surrounded him until he stood in front of him with a smug grin on his lips. 

“Of course,” he said and chuckled lightly. “Really, kid?” he said once he stood in front of Carl. 

 _Lower your stupid gun, Carl!_ She thought and tried not to make any sound or move. 

Carl looked at him. “And you should go. Before you find out how dangerous we all are.”

Negan didn’t seem to be affected at all. “Well, pardon me, young man. Excuse the shit out of my goddamn French, but…” The grin on his face grew even wider. “Did you just threaten me?” He inched closer towards Carl and she felt her heart nearly stop beating for a second. The image of Negan bashing her brother’s head in with that damn baseball bat her father was actually carrying right now invaded her mind. Or worse: that Negan would make their father do it. 

Carl shifted a little on his feet as Negan continued, “I get threatening Davey here, but I can’t have it. Not him, not me.” 

“Carl, just put it down!” Rick hissed but Negan raised his hand.

“Don’t be rude, Rick. We are having a conversation here.” 

Daisy was aware that Negan never even broke the eye-contact with her brother. 

“Now boy, where were we?” He tilted his head and added quite sarcastically. “Oh yeah, your giant, man-sized balls. You’re threatening us. Listen, I like you. So I don’t wanna go hard proving a point here. You don’t want that. I say half of your shit and half is what I say it is. I’m serious. Do you want me to prove how serious?” He paused a moment. “Again?”

Seconds never felt that much like hours while Carl contemplated his options. Finally, with an angry sigh he lowered the gun and handed it to Rick. Daisy released a relieved breath and was about to leave. She made a step forward and the floorboards of the porch creaked. She heard a gun cock and felt her knees grow weak. Slow footsteps approached her.

“Well, well, well…what do we have here?” She heard Negan’s voice behind her. Bracing herself she slowly turned around to face him. A grin spread on his lips. “Look at you, sneaking around. Eavesdropping.” 

“I wasn’t aware there’s a law that forbids me to go wherever I please.” she said  before she could stop the snarky comment. 

His tongue darted out between his teeth, licking his lips with an amused grin. “What’s your name, missy?” 

“Daisy.” 

“Now, Daisy, tell me exactly why you came here.” 

She looked him straight in the eye. “I heard the gunshot and thought there might be trouble.” 

He chuckled. “And you just can’t stay away from trouble, huh?” 

“Not if it involves people I care about.” 

“Daisy, don’t….” Rick said as he stepped outside along with Carl. Negan looked from one to the other and back at her. 

“Damn, you’re a Grimes. It’s right there in your eyes. That flaming hatred against the big, bad man taking your stuff away.” He looked at Rick. “She’s your girl, isn’t she?”

“Yes, I am. I am Daisy Grimes.” She said and stepped closer. “I’m not afraid of you.” she hissed. 

He chuckled and walked past her, leaning in closer as he did so. “And I wasn’t threatening you.” He walked away from the house. Rick hurried after him since the man approached the armory warehouse. 

“You should be more careful around him.” Daisy and Carl said to each other at the same time and shared a look. And they both knew it was exactly what they would not be. Neither Carl. Nor her. 


	4. Chapter 4

Daisy couldn’t tell how long the Saviours were in Alexandria yet; could be an hour or maybe even two by now. She avoided any further contact with them since the little incident in the medical room as best as she could. Since Carl had left to check on Judith, she wandered to one of the houses that had a basketball hoop in the backyard. She often came here to relax and calm her nerves. She started to shoot some hoops. 

“That looks a lot like cheating.”

She whirled around as a voice she knew all too well by now spoke up behind her. A quiet groan escaped her, loud enough for Negan to hear for sure. Yet, he didn’t seem to bother. 

“ _I’m_ the one who’s cheating? Says the man who gave us a week and shows up two days earlier.” She turned away again and shoot another hoop.

He clapped slowly. “Not bad. But still…you don’t play fucking basketball with a handball. Even a blind chimp could score with a ball that small.”

“Well, if there’d be a basketball around I’d use it but there is none. So, unless you plan to take this handball away from me I will use it instead.”

He chuckled and rubbed his chin which was covered by a three-day stubble. “What kind of a fucking monster do you think I am, missy? If you prefer to play with small balls it’s completely up to you. It’s simply half the fucking fun.” 

She remained silent and walked past him, handball under her arm. With a swift motion he took the ball, tossed it and scored. 

“Hey!” She protested and glared at him. Negan grinned and slowly her glare turned into a mischievous twinkle. “You were right,” she said and went to pick up the ball. As she approached him once more she faked a playful smile. “Even a chimp can score.” 

Before he could do or say anything she quickly walked past him and around the corner. He chuckled and looked back at the basketball hoop for a moment before he left. No ten minutes later the group of Saviours had finished loading up the stuff and were ready to leave. Rick watched as Negan hopped onto the passenger’s seat of the truck. 

“Yo, Rick!” Negan called and grinned cheekily. “Tell your little girl I said goodbye!” 

Rick gritted his teeth and said nothing. Soon the gate closed behind them and everyone in Alexandria seemed to collectively heave a sigh of relief. 

* * *

One week later, Daisy was wandering through the woods just outside Alexandria. Enid walked right beside her. The two of them got along quite well and so they decided to team up to search for supplies. Negan or some of his henchmen would return soon and so far they had no other choice then live according to his rules. 

“Do you think there’s a way we can defeat those guys?” Enid asked after a while. 

“They outnumber us. And they took almost all of our weapons. Still…our group got through so much since this shit started. We’ll find a way. Somehow. Someday. We will win.” 

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too.” she said and stopped. “Did you hear that?” 

Daisy stopped and listened carefully, looking around while she drew her hunting knife. She placed a finger against her lips and silently signaled her to draw her gun too. Silently they walked on, trying to avoid any noise as they neared a clearing. Not far from them they made out a van, painted in light blue and white. Five walkers shuffled around nearby; apparently they hadn’t spotted them yet but it would only be a matter of time. 

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eyes, she made out a movement between the trees to their left. A guttural growl reached their ears as they looked around. “Shit!” Daisy backed away bumping against a tree with her back as a group of ten walkers approached them emerging from the bushes. 

“Enid! Run!” she hissed and raised her knife, driving it through one of the walker’s skull. The younger girl shot the five walkers near the van but that was all the ammo she had left. “RUN!” Daisy called more urgently and killed another walker, but more and more seemed to break through the shadows of the trees. This was a real horde. Daisy moved away from the tree and grabbed Enid’s hand as she pulled her along. Blindly they ran through the forest hoping the walkers wouldn’t circle them and trap them. As they passed a big tree, Daisy ran full into one of the vicious creatures. She shrieked as it grabbed her, fingers digging into her shoulder, chomping rotten teeth dangerously close to her face. She struggled to get away from it, her knife had dropped to the ground. 

“No!” Enid exclaimed, eyes scanning the ground until she spotted the knife. Quickly she dived for it and rammed it into the walker’s skull right before its teeth could tear Daisy’s face apart. The grip around her shoulder losened as the walker dropped back. She panted heavily, her heart raced rapidly in her chest as she looked at Enid. 

“Thank you. That was….fucking close.” She pulled the knife out of the skull. 

“We should get out of here as fast as possible.” Enid said. “And tell your dad about the horde.” 

“Yeah. Yeah, we should. Come on, let’s go.” 

As they finally made it back to Alexandria they just arrived as the Savior’s trucks were leaving again. They missed them, thankfully. They approached Rick. He immediately saw something was up. 

“What happened?” he asked as he saw the blood on his daughter’s shirt. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes, I’m fine. We were attacked by a horde of bloody walkers. Not far from here in the woods.”

“Like…at least twenty or so. Couldn’t count but there were a lot.” Enid added. 

“But we made it, as you can see. Unharmed. Yet, we should do something about it.” 

He nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll gather some of us and we’ll get rid of them. You sure you’re okay?” He cupped her cheek with one hand. 

Daisy nodded with a soft smile. “I’m really okay, dad. Don’t worry. Is everything okay here? Was Negan with them?” 

“No…that other guy. Simon. His right hand man. They came, they took, they left. Look, I’ll take care of these walkers and you’ll try unwind a bit. You’re still shaking.” 

She nodded and watched him walk over to Michonne. She looked at Enid and hugged her. “Thank you, again. Would I’ve been alone out there I might’ve been dead by now.”

“You would’ve done the same for me. We’re friends. We’re like…like family.”

“Yes, we really are.” She let go of her. “I’ll go shoot some hoops. See you later?” 

Enid nodded and they parted ways. After changing into another shirt at her home she went to the basketball hoop a couple houses away. As she entered the backyard she stopped and tilted her head. “What the…?” she muttered and approached the hoop. Underneath lay a basketball. A real basketball. She picked it up and spotted a note attached to it. Curiously she pulled it off and read it. 

_Big balls are better. Next time we’ll have a fucking match, missy._

She shook her head in disbelief and pushed the note into the pocket of her pants. Uncertainly she looked down at the ball in her hands. She bounced the ball once. Twice. Then shoot it at the hoop. It missed. She picked up the ball again and shoot again. She scored, she missed, she scored, she missed. He had been right. It wasn’t as easy with a real basketball. 

“But I’ll train. And next time I’ll destroy you.” She muttered.


	5. Chapter 5

The lamp filled the livingroom with a warm light. Daisy was sitting on the sofa reading a book. She didn’t seem to notice the presence behind her while she kept reading.

“I know you’re watching me.” She suddenly said amused and looked up with a smile.

Rick chuckled and approached the sofa, sitting down beside her. “You got eyes on your back?”

“Comes in handy in a world like this, right? Gotta have your eyes everywhere. That’s what a wise man once taught me when shit hit the fan.”

“Oh really? Do I know that wise man?” He asked amused.

She leaned closer and kissed his cheek. “You do. He’s the best dad a girl could wish for.”

Rick took her hand in his and looked at her with a thoughtful expression. “Daisy, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, sure.”

She watched him expectantly. Whatever it was that weighed on his mind, it must’ve been something delicate for he hesitated far too long already. “Dad? What’s wrong?”

He sighed. “I saw you playing basketball by yourself the past couple weeks.”

“So? I do that for a while now. Since I discovered the hoop in Aaron’s backyard.”

“I know, it’s just…you never played with an actual basketball. I remember you told me there is none. That’s why you used a handball.”

She nodded. “Yes, that’s true. I just don’t get where you’re going at with that?”

“Suddenly you play with a real basketball. And I started thinking about it. And I came to the realization that…that you do that after the Savior’s second visit to our place a few weeks back. Is there anything I should know about, Daisy?”

She could feel the concern in his voice. She squeezed his hand and shifted closer. “I pushed it off as nothing, really. That guy…Simon…I think he’s Negan’s right hand man, you said?”

He nodded and kept quiet, letting her finish with her story.

“He must have left the ball in Aaron’s backyard. Negan must’ve instructed him to do that cause…”

“Cause…?”

“Look, I really think it’s nothing. There was a note attached that was obviously coming from Negan. It said something like I should train with a real basketball and next time he comes here we’ll have a match.”

Rick stared at his daughter for a moment. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“Dad, I know he’s a madman and I am not stupid.”

“Yet, you accepted his gift and train every day. What else should I think other than you’re playing with fire here? Who can guarantee us that he’ll let you live if you beat him in a basketball match? This could be a trap, Daisy. He could challenge you and if he loses he might torture you. He could make you chose someone to be killed by his hand. Do you want to risk that? For you this might be nothing. For you this might be just a basketball you received as an ‘oh so generous’ gift by the man who killed our friends in the most brutal way. But for me it’s…it’s torture to even THINK about you letting him use you like a pawn in his sick, evil mindtricks.”

Daisy’s jaw had dropped a little. “Did you…did you really just say that? Do you accuse me of risking the life of our people over a stupid basketball match? Do you really think so low of me?”

“Daisy…no, that’s not what I meant…” He stammered. “I just…I just fear for your life and that of my family and friends. Can’t you understand that?”

She rose from the sofa, pulling her hand out of his grasp. “I DO understand and I can’t believe you accuse me of such…such a thing. I thought you trust me, dad. I know he is an evil man! I am not a naïve little child anymore, dad. I’m a grown woman and I would NEVER risk the life of the people I love.”

“I know you wouldn’t…”

“Then you shouldn’t have implied it! Good night!” She stormed outside the house into the cool evening air. A soft breeze blew past her and made her shiver a little. Angrily she walked through town, still shocked how a nice moment with her father could’ve turned into such a big fight. He might not have meant what he said but still he had said it anyway and those words had hurt much more than anything.

“Great…” She mumbled angrily as she felt hot tears stinging in her eyes. She brushed them away as they started falling and rolling down her cheeks. As she rounded the corner she bumped into Enid.

“Oomph…..hey, are you okay?” The younger girl asked as she saw Daisy’s tearstained cheeks.

“Just had a fight with my dad. He was upset about that stupid basketball.”

“You mean the one Negan sent for you?”

“Ugh, why does everyone say it like I am naïve? I know he has something on his mind, trying to use me for his sick games. Does that mean I can’t enjoy having a real basketball for a change? To properly enjoy the game?”

Enid linked her arm with hers as they walked together. “That man…took so much from us. And I don’t mean the food or weapons or medical supplies. I’m talking about people. Friends. Family. I might not know your father too well but you told me without Glenn your father might’ve died in a tank back in Atlanta. He saved his life and now your father couldn’t safe his. He lost one of the most important person in his life. For nothing.”

“I know. God, do you realize that after all the years now…it’s not the walkers we have to be afraid of? We don’t have to run and hide as much as before from them. No…now’s the time the real monsters show their faces. Other human beings. Other groups. There  _must_  be a way that civilization returns to this world. Real civilization.  There’s not just us, Enid. We’re just a small dot on the world map. Heck, this disease spread worldwide. We live in fucking Georgia! No one outside of Alexandria probably never even HEARD of this place back in the normal days. Can you imagine how life must be in…China? India? Places that are crowded a lot more than the farmlands of Georgia? We all live in our safe zones and try make life as livable as possible but instead of working together with other communities in peace we now cower before one clown with a bat and his circus of gun wielding monkeys.”

Enid had listened and stopped in front of her place. “I know what you mean, Daisy. But…as far as I can tell the only way of getting rid of Negan is either fight or flight. Just like you said, we’re in Georgia. Negan controls this part of the state but this state is not everything there is. We could go to…Louisiana. Or Texas.”

Daisy couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Ew, can you imagine the smell of rotting walkers under the burning Texas sun?”

The girls chuckled. Then Daisy became more serious again. “Anyway, trust me, I will be careful about Negan.”

“But…will you accept his match when he comes?”

She groaned. “Oh, I don’t know. I probably have to unless I wanna upset him.”

“Anything could upset him. You know, maybe you SHOULD accept the match to please him but let him win. You don’t have to make it too obvious, but shoot some bad hoops. Miss the hoop. You get the picture.”

Daisy nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll think about it. I…I’m going back home now. Hopefully, my dad is still up. I think I…should talk to him. Tell him I’m sorry for overreacting.”

“Do that. Good night, Daisy.”

* * *

They waved goodbye and for a moment Daisy lingered on the spot before she turned and walked back down the road towards their house. She saw Spencer up on the lookout point, reading a magazine. She never really liked him. She couldn’t really tell why but it was some feeling deep down in her guts that told her to be wary of him. Just as she walked up the steps of the front porch she stopped and listened carefully. She turned and saw Spencer looking up too and got up to check the other side of the fence. There was something. A melody. A faint melody that sounded like coming from an old gramophone. She didn’t recognize the melody yet she walked down the steps again and approached the gate.

“What is that?” she called up to Spencer.

He looked down at her and shrugged. “Don’t know. Can’t see anything.”

She climbed up to the lookout point and stood beside him now. “It’s coming from somewhere near the fence, doesn’t it?” She said. “I’ll open the gate and check.”

“The hell you won’t.” He protested.

“Then stop me. What’re you gonna do, huh? Shoot me?”

He glared at her, his finger twitched lightly at the trigger, then he groaned and lowered the weapon. “This is ridiculous.”

“I know. So, if there are no walkers dancing around a gramophone I will go and check quickly. You will keep an eye out too from up here. Don’t you?”

“Yeah, yeah, I will. Hurry up before your father hears it.”

She took the flashlight, quickly climbed down from the lookout and quietly pushed the gate open. She slid outside and carefully walked into the direction of the music. She knew she was going into the right direction since the music became louder with each step. She looked up and saw Spencer scanning the surrounding area. Maybe her guts were wrong after all. At least, a little. Maybe. She shook that train of thought off and stopped. The music was right underneath her now. She furrowed her brow and crouched down. She moved her hand through the patch of grass and suddenly her fingertip touched something hard. Plastic maybe. She picked it up and looked even more surprised. It was a walkie talkie. How could that be?

She inspected it curiously, carefully turning it in her hand. If she could hear something that means someone not too far away was having the other one. She got up again and looked around, pointing her flashlight into all possible directions. She couldn’t see anyone or anything. Then again, she had no idea about the possible distance these things could cover. Curiosity finally got the better of her and she pressed the speaker button.

“Hello?”

The music continued, it was this one eerie melody playing in a loop. She pressed the button again.

“Hello, can you hear me? Anyone?”

Suddenly the music was turned down gradually until it was just faintly playing in the distance. Her heart was beating excitedly. Would someone speak? Who could it be? She held her breath when suddenly a voice began to sing.

_“Daisy, Daisy. Give me your answer do. I’m half crazy…all for the love of you.”_

She stared at the device in her hand. That voice. She knew it. It was him. It was definitely him. Anger began boiling in her chest as she pressed the button again.

“What…do…you…want?” She hissed.

As the music kept playing in the background a deep chuckle came out of the walkie talkie.

“Oh, we’re gonna have so much fun tomorrow, Daisy.”

And with that Negan turned his device off.


	6. Chapter 6

Daisy was lying awake for hours that night, staring at the walkie talkie sitting on her nightstand. She still wondered how Negan could be so sure she’d find it and not Spencer. Or anyone else. Had he been spying on them? Somehow? But how? A shiver ran down her spine even thinking about it. With a heavy sigh, she reached for the little black device, turned it on and pushed the speaker button.

“Hello?”

She almost whispered and then held her breath. She felt so stupid in this very moment. It wasn’t as if he’d answer anyway. She was just about to turn the damn thing off again when suddenly.

“Can’t sleep?”

The casual yet slightly mocking tone of his voice triggered her a lot. “No shit, Sherlock. As if I could sleep after that creepy stunt of you.”

He chuckled. “You make me sound like a creep.”

“Oh, I have more accurate names for you. Sociopath? Monster? And let’s not forget your recent title: stalker.”

She knew she better bite her tongue, but the words came flooding out of her mouth before she could even think about stopping them. Once she had said all that the silence lay heavy in the room. That’s it. She just fucked up. Tomorrow he would come and he’d make her or one of her friends or even one of her family pay for what she had just said to him.

“Tell me, little Daisy, how come  _I_  am a monster if all I am doing is protect my people and make those who kill them suffer? This fucking world doesn’t have justice anymore. Not the fucking justice we know from before. With the rising of the fucking dead this world turned into an eye for an eye kind of justice again and you know it. You’re not a damn child anymore, Daisy. How old are you?”

“Nineteen.”

“So, you  _do_  have a brain in your head that’s fucking capable of understanding what I am saying. Tell me…did your group – no let me fucking rephrase that – did your daddy kill other people to protect what’s his? Ever?”

She remained silent for a moment. “Well, he did, of course. This world has turned into a cruel pl-“

“The world has  _always_  been a cruel place. I get it, before shit hit the fan you were a child. Rick probably didn’t tell you about the bad guys out there he’s hunting while on duty, huh? The thieves. The thugs. The killers. The rapists. All these things happened ever since mankind put its fucking foot on this fucking planet. Remember that  _I_  killed  _two_  of your people while  _your_  people killed like  _fifty_  of mine. You ambushed  _our_  outpost at night. We ambushed  _you_  in the forest at night in return. So, now tell me why am  _I_  the bad guy here while your glorious and always rightful daddy is the one who gets away with every…fucking… _shit_  he does?”

“I know what you’re trying to do. You wanna turn me against my father, but that won’t work.” She hissed.

“Oh Daisy, Daisy.” He sighed theatrically. “I’m not trying shit. I’m just making a point here. You threaten me, I threaten you. You kill my people, I kill yours. So, what can you do to stop it? Right, you should fucking listen to what I say and give me what I want.”

She laughed lightly, not hiding the mockery. “Oh, so  _that’s_  how it works? You command and we bow and do what you say? You know, I paid attention to what’s going on in the world even as a kid and I do know what people like you are called. Dictators. You think you’re some saint or something, calling yourselves the saviors with your Sanctuary as the save haven. And once you lured people to your place you put them into labor and if they don’t do what you say you kill them or torture them in some way or another. And then you go on a scouting tour, checking out which community you can invade and oppress next. You’re like Hitler invading Poland and the rest of Europe. Blind from anger, blind from the greed to gain more power. But guess what? Even Hitler and his allies couldn’t hold that power for long.”

“Now I’m Hitler? Seriously? Girl, you don’t know who I am or what I’ve fucking been through so you better keep your sweet little mouth shut now and go to sleep. There’s an important match tomorrow.”

Without any other word, she turned the device off.

* * *

Despite what happened in the night she must have been fallen asleep. Someone was shaking her awake. Daisy groaned and pushed the hand away and rolled around. “Five more minutes.”

“You don’t have five more minutes. Negan’s already here and waiting for you to show up.”

She furrowed her brow and looked up at Enid. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, come on. He’s waiting in Aaron’s backyard. He demands to see you. And only you. No spectators.”

Daisy got up and changed into some casual clothes and followed Enid outside. While Negan’s men were looking through the stuff they had managed to scavenge the past days, Daisy hurried down the street and entered Aaron’s backyard. As she stepped through the gate she spotted him, his back was facing her.

“You came—“ He said and turned around, holding the basketball in his hands. Unlike the last time she had seen him, he wasn’t wearing his leather glove. Nor was Lucille anywhere around. Though she was certain one of his men had her.

“I did. So…what happens now?” She asked and gestured at the ball.

He grinned. “We’ll have a match, like I said.” He tossed the ball towards her. She caught it and looked at him challengingly.

“Okay, if you think you can keep up with me, old man.” She grinned back at him and made the ball bounce once, twice and tried to surround him but he blocked her. Which was not really a surprise since he was much taller than her. With a swift move he took the ball from her and tossed it into the hoop.

“Damn, I’m still fucking awesome!”

“No one likes showoffs.” She said and grabbed the ball as it bounced from the ground after the score.

“And I have the fucking feeling you’re trying to let me win.”

She stared at him. “Why would I—?”

“To fucking please me, missy.” He stepped closer towards her with the hint of anger in his eyes. “I came here for a fair match and if you let me win I can’t promise I will be as nice anymore.”

“Right, because you’re known for being mister nice guy.” She whirled around him and scored the ball. A cheeky grin curled her lips as she saw his mildly surprised yet somehow amused look on his face.

“What’re you waiting for? I thought this is a match.” She chased him, trying to block him as they ran across the yard. He scored again, then she got hold of the ball and ducked under his arm and scored the ball as well.

“If you say fair….how fair do you mean?” Daisy asked panting a little as she was trying to take the ball away from him.

“Fair as in do whatever needs to be done to fucking win.” He chuckled and surrounded her effortlessly. Yet she suddenly stuck out her leg a little. He tripped and fell on his knees, groaning a little. She snatched the ball as it was rolling away from him and scored again. She tucked the ball under her arm, panting as she looked at him with a triumphant grin.

“That was—“

“Unfair?” She said amused.

He looked up at her and held out his hand. “You could at least help me up.”

Daisy hesitated for a second, then took his hand but she should have known better. In the next second she was on her knees as well. His face was close in front of hers and she could feel his hot breath on her skin. What troubled her more than the fact how close she was to that maniac after she had just defeated him in the game was the fact that her heart just skipped a few beats. She blinked and stared at him a bit fearful now.

“Are you afraid of me?”

“To be honest…a little.”

“Fuck it, you’re not afraid, kiddo. You haven’t been fucking afraid of me from the first moment we met and you definitely are not right now. You might be intimidated but you are not afraid. Don’t shatter my fucking image of you.”

“What image is that?” She asked trying to gain control over her own body again. She realized she was still holding his hand so she pulled it away. Much to her relief he let go of her.

“You’re a badass and I need badass people on my team.” He got up and watched her as she got up as well ignoring his offered hand.

“Are you seriously suggesting that I go with you?” She huffed.

“For now it’s a fucking offer. Damn, I can see it in your eyes. You don’t belong here.”

“You don’t know shit about me, Negan.” She snapped. “I belong where my family is. Where my friends are and I won’t leave them behind to live and work for the enemy. You think with your charm you can lure me into the lion’s den but you’re wrong. I am loyal! I love my family!”

He clapped slowly. “Oh, you special little snowflake. Say, did you tell daddy about that cute little walkie talkie in your room?”

She stepped back a little and glared dagger at him. “Don’t you dare…”

“Now look how fucking loyal that is. Just…not to your family or friends. Think about it, Daisy. My offer’s still open. And I want your answer soon.”

He turned away and walked out of the backyard, humming that damn song from the night before.

“ _Assbutt!”_  She thought and kicked the ball away. 


	7. Chapter 7

Leg bouncing, coffee mug in her hand she was sitting on the steps of the front porch, sipping small bits of coffee and looking over at the gate. It was still very early in the morning, the clouds in the distance painted in a very soft hue of purple. Daisy hadn’t found much sleep in the night and decided to leave Alexandria as early as possible before her father or Michonne could stop her. She wanted to go on a scavenger hunt by herself, taking her time, finding as much as possible. Preferably things that were easy to hide from the Saviors. Negan thought he could intimidate her or even worse: lure her over onto his side but that would never happen.

She sighed and placed the mug on the steps and got up. Hunting knife and gun on her hips she put on her leather jacket and went over to the parked cars. She chose a black sedan and started the engine. As she rolled towards the gate she saw Gabriel looking at her with an expression she couldn’t stand at all. He was judging her. Like he judged everyone in the community and she hated him for that. She never fully trusted him from the first moment he stumbled into their group. Yes, she was aware that she had some serious trust issues with some people but she had her reasons.

Gabriel leaned down as she opened the window. “Where are you going? All alone in the break of dawn?”

“I’m going to find stuff for us.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Just for us?”

“No, but the plan is to find more for us than for them.”

“You know, I don’t think you should go alone.”

“And why is that?”

“Well, you’re…”

“What? A woman? Too young and naïve to go alone as if that’s the first time I’ve been out there on my own?”

“I didn’t say that, Daisy. But I doubt your father knows you’re leaving and if something happens to you out there he might blame me for not trying to stop you.”

“Well, you’ve tried. And I went anyway. Your record is clean and I am back before he even knows I was gone. Okay? Now, open the gate. Please.”

They held gaze for another few seconds until he sighed and went to open the gate. Slowly she drove past him and heard him mutter “ _be careful_ ” before she sped off away from Alexandria. She had found a map of the area a while ago and decided to check out a spot she was sure they hadn’t checked out yet. She drove in silence until her gaze drifted to the small black device on the passenger seat. She had no idea why she had brought the walkie talkie with her but somehow it made her feel not as alone as she really was now.

After around an hour she finally stopped in front of a fenced area. This was probably the spot from the map. In front of the fenced area to her right was a little gas station. The windows were broken and probably some other group – maybe the Saviors – had already raided this place long ago. The fence looked relatively intact though. Could this be another community? One they never paid much attention to? Could people still live inside? She could see several barracks and what looked like a little amusement park. There was a little Ferris wheel, a carousel and some other things.

Daisy stopped the engine and sat there for a while, watching the area for any signs of life. Or death. Some barracks blocked her view so she couldn’t scan the entire terrain. She decided to check out the gas station first before she would try and find a way into the fenced area. She grabbed the walkie talkie and pushed it into the pocket of her jacket, then she left the car and pulled out the hunting knife, ready to strike if necessary as she hurried over to the building. She picked up a pebble and tossed it through the broken window. She heard it hitting the wall and drop to the ground. She held her breath, silently counting to ten but nothing moved or made any sound. As she was certain no one was inside, she pushed the door open. The little bells above the door rang and Daisy stopped again, scanning the inside and listening intently. She turned her flashlight on and began searching for anything useful. She smiled as she found a whole stash of chewing gum, candy, canned fruits and some bottles of water, coke and even beer. She stuffed all of it into her backpack, wondering a little why all these things were still there while the windows had been broken. Someone surely must have found this gas station too sometime. Then again, why should she care at all? She found the food and drinks and that was more important to her.

As she returned outside she stopped again and looked thoughtfully at the gas pumps. She walked over and checked them for gas. A triumphant laugh escaped her as she realized there was even fuel inside. She hurried back inside and grabbed several gas cans and started pumping, filling them as much as she could. The sun was climbing higher by now and Daisy began loading the filled gas cans into the trunk of the car. She kept the backpack on her back and went over to the fence, checking for any holes in it. She rattled it a little and listened. Yep, she could hear the groaning and growling somewhere behind the barracks. She hesitated for a moment, but finally she began climbing and jumped over the fence. The grass was tall and so the thud of her boots connecting with the ground again was quiet. She weaseled around the area, always close to the fence. Her pulse began racing the further she came to the source of the groaning sounds. Finally, she reached a point from which she had a much better view.

“Shit.” She mumbled to herself and duck behind a rusty car. The area was full of walkers. She couldn’t count them all but there were a lot outside and she had no idea how many would be inside one or all the barracks. Maybe it had been a bad idea to come alone. With just one gun and one knife. Just as she decided to leave and come back sometime later with her father or someone else, she heard shuffling footsteps behind her. She looked around just in time as a walker reached out for her. Damn, where did that one come from suddenly? Quickly, she raised her knife and drove it into his skull. Her back pressed against the car. She looked over her shoulder and with horror she saw that some walkers had turned their attention to her and began approaching. That caused more walkers to follow. She hurried out of her hiding place, past the barracks. She stopped and bumped into another walker. With all her strength, she could muster she pushed it back, so it stumbled backwards against the other walkers that started sprawling out of the barrack. Daisy ran as fast as she could into the direction of the gate she had climbed. Suddenly she stumbled over a rock and fell flat on the ground. Her pants ripped open and her knees started bleeding, her shirt was dirty as well as her face. A nasty cut above her brow burned like fire. Blood began running down her face. Groaning and whimpering she pushed herself up and brushed the blood away a bit, as to not get too much of it into her eye. She turned and saw the walkers had closed in on her.

“Leave me alone you fucking bastards!” She yelled and took her gun and began firing, killing some of them but there were still too many and she had not enough bullets. She turned again and hurried over to the fence. Her knees hurt, her head was hammering but yet she started climbing. She shrieked as the first walkers reached the fence and began rattling. She slipped a little, one foot dangling dangerously close to their grabby hands. One managed to grab her boot and began pulling. Daisy cried and yelled and kicked as much as she could to get free. As the grip loosened she started climbing again, swinging one leg over the top of the fence, then the other. She jumped and stumbled to her knees once again.

“Ouh fuck…” She hissed and struggled up again. Her eyes grew wide as she stared over to the gas station. Her car. The car was gone. Someone had stolen her car with a trunk full of gasoline. “No. No no no, fucking no!”

She hurried over to the spot where she had parked the car and looked around in all directions but there was no sign of it anywhere. Besides, a car couldn’t come to life on itself and hide. She kicked a stone away and screamed in frustration. She panted heavily and thanked herself for taking the backpack with her instead of leaving it in the car. She put it on the ground and took a bottle of water. First she drank some and poured the rest over her head and face. Probably the water mixed with the blood sill seeping from the cut made her looks worse but the cool liquid calmed her down a little. She stuffed the bottle back into her bag and put it back on. She looked back over towards the fence as she heard an eerie screeching. The gate suddenly gave way, the force of the horde of walkers seemed to be so strong that the gate swung open. Daisy knew this was a suicide mission but she started running down the road. She couldn’t even take cover somewhere since she was on an open road with no forest nearby. Just open plains and the road. And these walkers would follow her. But she couldn’t just stay there and let them kill her. She had to try, at least. She ran, fast at first, as fast as possible with her whole body aching from the fall. But while the walkers had infinite stamina, hers began fading slowly. Her pace became slower and slower, her sides burned, her lungs burned and every bone and every muscle in her body was screaming at her to stop. To just stop and take a pause for a while but she couldn’t. The slower she was the closer were the walkers. Tears began streaming down her face as she realized she probably wouldn’t make it back home. She stopped in the middle of a crossroad and panted heavily. She turned around with her knife in hand. The walkers groaned and growled at her the closer they came. Everything around her seemed to move in slow motion, her eyes focused only on the beasts in front of her, her ears filled with their sounds and the sound of her own blood rushing in her ears. It was all this that made her completely block out everything else around her so her brain had quite a hard time processing what was happening next. The truck that sped past her, mowing down most of the walkers and some more as it turned and drove back towards her.

The last thing she saw was the driver’s door swung open, her vision blurred as he knees gave way and she was caught by her savior. Before she completely fell unconscious, she heard a voice. So close and yet so far away at the same time.

“I got you, babygirl.”


	8. Chapter 8

Booming thunder pulled her out of her sleep. Daisy panted a little as she looked over to the window. Rain was pouring down and she sunk back into the pillow with a sigh. It took her a moment to realize something wasn’t right. Slowly she looked around the room, furrowing her brow. Where the hell was she? Whose bed was this? She flinched lightly as she tried to sit up.

“Ouh.” She lifted the blanket and saw that her torso was bandaged as well as some band aids on her knees.

“Easy there, babygirl.”

She blinked rapidly as she heard that voice coming from the door. And not just any voice. It was  _his_  voice and she had no clue why he was there. She looked over as Negan stepped into the room with a charming smile.

“Why am I here? Did you kidnap me?”

He chuckled and pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat down, leaning Lucille against the bed. “You’re here because otherwise you’d be one of those walking fuckers too. You’re very merry fucking welcome.”

She squinted her eyes a bit, memories faded back into her mind. “The horde. I remember they were following me. There was a truck. Then I…Don’t remember anything. The driver. Was that you?”

“Yep.” He grinned. “That was quite a suicide mission you did there. How come daddy allowed you to go there on your own?”

She remained silent and he laughed. “Oh, I get it. He has no clue. You know, I bet by now he’s worried sick that you’re gone for so long. See, that’s why I sent my men over to bring a message.”

“What kind of message?” She asked warily.

“That you’re with me now.”

“What?” She hissed and tried to reach for Lucille but he moved her out of her reach quickly.

“Relax, missy. They’ll tell him you’re here, that you were injured and need some time to fucking recover. You’re not my prisoner.”

“Right, you’re the good Samaritan saving people’s lives before one day you decide to take it from them.”

He sighed. “I thought we’ve been through this already. I don’t take lives randomly.”

“Tell that Maggie and her unborn child who lost their husband and father. For absolutely nothing.”

“Nothing? I told your people not to move or bat an eye and what did Daryl do? He punched me in the face.”

“Don’t you dare! If you’re planning to blame Daryl for Glenn’s death you’re more insane than I thought. And now take me home.”

“Sorry, babygirl, but that’s not an option right now. The doc said you have a severely bruised rib. You’re lucky you haven’t broken some but if you overstrain yourself now one or two might break and you don’t want that, do you?”

“So as of right now I  _am_  your prisoner.”

“Would you be a prisoner if this was the world from before and you’d be in hospital with injuries like that?”

“Well, no, but you can’t compare this world with the world before.”

He leaned forward a little. “Look, honey, I solemnly swear that you’re free to go once you’re healed. Deal?”

She glared at him but knew he was right. Every little move she made hurt like hell. She didn’t want to risk a broken rib or two and be forced to stay longer than necessary. She huffed in defeat.

“Fine. I’m sure I’ll be better in a week. On the next tour to Alexandria I’ll go with your men.”

“Now look at you finally agreeing with me.”

She groaned and closed her eyes. “I need more rest. And honestly, I think you really love to hear yourself talk. And that’s annoying me to no end right now.” She peeked at him again for a second. “You’re not gonna sit there and watch me sleep, do you?”

“Would that be inappropriate?” He grinned at her.

“I’d say it’d be creepy.”

“Alright, gonna leave you alone then, baby.”

“Stop calling me that. I’m not your baby, babygirl or whatever else you’re calling me.”

He had taken Lucille and went to the door. As he was halfway outside he turned to look at her again. “As you wish…babygirl.” He quickly left and heard the soft thud of a pillow hit the door. Negan walked back outside, an amused smile on his face.

* * *

She had managed to sleep a bit longer despite the fact that she was pretty much right inside the lion’s den right now. But she couldn’t just walk outside and leave. She knew even though Negan had promised her she wasn’t his prisoner that he would try to keep her at this place longer. 

Her ribs still hurt a little but she ignored the pain and slowly sat up. She spotted a bottle of water on the bedside table and poured some into the glass next to it. Eagerly she drank as if this was an elixir right from God’s fountain. As she had emptied the entire bottle she suddenly felt her stomach rumbling a bit. Since she had no clue how to tell anyone she was hungry, she slowly walked over to the door and peeked outside into the hallway. No one was out there. She somehow had expected that Negan would put a guard or two in front of her room but apparently he did not. 

With bare feet she walked down the hallway, uncertain where it would lead. As she passed by a double door she bumped into someone leaving that room. 

“Ouf…ouh…” Daisy stumbled back a little and pressed a hand against her ribs. 

“Oh, hey, are you alright?” The woman looked concerned. “You’re Daisy, right?”

She nodded and looked back at her. “Yes, that’s me. Who are you?”

“I’m Sherry. I heard you’re injured, don’t you think you should stay in bed?” 

“No, yes, maybe.” She groaned. “I’m hungry and honestly don’t want to be here at all.” 

She nodded and smiled comfortingly. “I know. I can get you something to eat and you could get back to bed.” 

“I don’t wanna go back to bed. I need to walk a bit. Could you maybe show me to the kitchen or wherever there’s food around here?”

“We have food in here, in the lounge.” She opened the double door again. Curiously, Daisy stepped closer and peeked inside. The room looked like a fancy lounge indeed, or a really fancy living room. And there were more women inside. Women dressed in black dresses. She furrowed her brow and looked at Sherry. 

“Who are these women? And….why are you all dressed in the same dresses?”

“I’ll explain it to you. Come, we have sandwiches and some little snacks in here. And drinks, if you like.”

Daisy followed her into the room. Sherry then closed the door and turned to the others who were now all looking at Daisy curiously. 

“This is Daisy.” Sherry introduced her. “She’s the girl Negan brought here earlier today.”

“Hi.” Daisy said uncertainly. “This is, uhm, a nice place.” She walked over to a table that had platters with sandwiches and crackers with cheese on it. Eagerly she took a BLT sandwich and dug into it, moaning softly as she munched on it. 

“This is so good. Haven’t had bacon in such a long time.” 

Sherry and the other women shared amused glances. “You should sit down. You are still injured and need some rest.” She said and led her over to a sofa where Daisy sat down carefully. 

“Now, what is all this? I mean, who are you all?”

“We are Negan’s wives.” Sherry said and sat down too. 

Daisy stared at each of the women. “Wives? As in…married to him? All of you?” 

She nodded. “Kinda like that, yes.”

“But…why?” 

“We all had our reasons. It’s giving us some privileges other women in the community don’t get so easily.”

“So he keeps the pretty ones as his sex toys and the others women can see how they make it? Is that it?” 

Sherry stared at her for a second. “It is not that easy, girl.” 

“Then tell me…if you wouldn’t be his ‘wife’ how would you get what you need or want?” 

“I’d have to work for it.” 

Daisy chuckled softly. “See? You chose the easy way out. Instead of working and contributing properly to your community you decided to spread your legs and get some treats in return.” 

The sound of flesh slapping flesh suddenly filled the room. Daisy dropped her sandwich and squeaked surprised, her hand raised to her cheek where Sherry had just slapped her. Daisy glared at the other woman. 

“Don’t you dare ever say that again.” Sherry hissed. “You have no idea what we all have been through.” 

“And if you ever raise your hand against me again, it will be the last time you have a hand.” She got up and turned to leave. As she reached the door she stopped and turned around again. “Being through hard times is the most pathetic excuse for sharing a man with other women just to get some special treatment. I bet the other women out there love you a lot for what you’re doing.” 

And with that Daisy left the room and slammed the door shut. She hurried down the hallway as fast as she could, ignoring the throbbing pain in her ribcage. She pushed a door open and stumbled outside. It was still raining but she didn’t care. She let the cool rain drop onto her head and skin. It was long ago since it had last rained in the area. She kept walking around the yard until she spotted a fenced area filled with walkers. She walked over and stopped near the fence. A walker spotted her and started clawing at the fence, growling and hissing at her. A sudden pang of pure rage suddenly overcame her. She grabbed a crowbar lying on a crate nearby and approached the fence. With an angry yell she drove the crowbar right through the walker’s skull.

“This is all your fault, you filthy stupid disgusting piece of fucking shit!” She kicked against the fence. She dropped the crowbar and stumbled back a little, pain taking control over her again. Her legs softly hit against the crate and she sat down on it, pressing her hands against her ribs again, panting heavily. She was well aware of the footsteps approaching her but she didn’t bother to look up. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, trying to get rid of the pain. 

A pair of strong hands suddenly pulled her back to her feet. She opened her eyes and looked up at Negan. His hair clung to his face just like hers did thanks to the rain. 

“What the fuck are you doing out here?” He asked, still holding her with his hands on her upper arms. He didn’t sound angry. He sounded…concerned?

“I hate this. I hate my injuries, I hate this place, your wives. I hate these damn walkers. Every single one of them and I hate you. I hate you the most. I fucking hate you, Negan!” She growled and pounded against his chest, over and over again until she couldn’t hold back the tears anymore and she slumped against his chest crying, still hitting his chest weakly til all her hands could do was clutch to his shirt. They stood like this, silently in the rain, and Daisy didn’t even care anymore as he embraced her gently for a moment until he led her back inside. 


	9. Chapter 9

A couple days had passed since Daisy’s little outburst in the rain. One of Negan’s men, his name was Joey, had the order to bring her food and drinks. She had refused to leave her room, mainly because she didn’t want to meet Sherry or any of the other ‘wives’ again.

“Negan demands to see you.” Joey said as he placed a tray laden with cookies and a glass of milk on the table. She looked up surprised.

“Good for him. But I don’t feel like seeing him today.”

“I don’t think he’ll accept this. Just do what he says.”

“Listen, Joey,” She glared at him. “Negan knows full well that I will  _never_  do what he says so why don’t  _you_  go and tell him to stick his demands right up his ass?”

He groaned. “Because it’ll be me who’ll end up dead for that.”

“Why are you even working for him?” She asked and snatched a cookie from the tray.

He shrugged. “It’s save here.”

“Except for the times you fear Negan might snap and bash your head in, you mean?”

“It’s not that easy. Will you accept his request or not?”

She grumbled. “When and where?”

He checked his wrist watch. “In an hour. I will come and pick you up then.”

“Wait. In an hour?” She looked up at the clock hanging above the door. “Is that a dinner invitation or something?” She asked warily.

He shrugged again. “How would I know. He just gave me that tray and said tell her to meet me in an hour.”

“Okay. Yeah, okay, I’ll see you in an hour then.” She dipped a cookie into the milk and ate the delicious treat. Once Joey was gone she finished the whole plate and got up. Since there was a small bathroom attached to her room she decided to take a shower and change into some new clothes. Even though she didn’t like the fact that Negan had given her new clothes, she was kinda thankful for it right now. The water was relatively cold but very refreshing and so she spent almost twenty minutes under the shower before she stepped out and dried up. After brushing her long, auburn hair she went back into the bedroom and grabbed a fresh pair of panties, a sports bra which was a  _lot_ more comfortable than her other bra. Finally, she put on the dark green cargo pants and a white shirt.

* * *

Joey was back on time, it was six in the evening. “Ready?”

She nodded. “Ready as one can be, I guess.”

They walked in silence, Daisy two steps behind him. She was quite lost in thoughts and didn’t pay much attention to her surroundings. She kept wondering why Negan wanted to see her. This felt like straight out of Beauty and the Beast when Belle refused to meet the beast for dinner just to end up there anyway. She shook her head to get these thoughts out of her head and nearly bumped into Joey as he had stopped and turned to her.

“That’s his room. Go on in.” He said and left quickly down the hallway. She looked after him for a moment before she stepped closer to the door. She clenched her fingers to a fist for a moment, thinking about her options. She could simply turn and walk back to her room. But she knew he wouldn’t give up. It was surely the best to just get this over with. She sighed and knocked against the door.

She heard his heavy footsteps on the other side of the door moments before he opened it, smiling one of his typical Negan-smiles at her. “Ah, Daisy, Daisy, what a nice surprise.”

She huffed and looked up at him. “You wanted to see me. Not really that big of a surprise.”

“It is, knowing you. Kinda expected Joey to come back with a snarky comment from you.” He chuckled and stepped aside to let her enter his room.

She entered the room. “Seems you know me quite well. That’s actually what would’ve happened if Joey wouldn’t fear for his life if he did what I told him.”

She cast a glance around the room. There was a sofa, two armchairs and a small table near the window. On the other side of the room was a small kitchenette with a fridge. Two other doors surely led to a bedroom and to a bathroom. That was, not that it surprised her, probably the biggest room around.

“How’re your ribs?” Negan closed the door and watched her curiously while she scanned the room inch by inch. She turned her head to look at him and shrugged.

“Quite okay. Definitely looking forward to leave this place in three days.” She sat on one of the armchairs. “Was that why you wanted me here? Asking how I am?”

“Among other things.” He went over to the kitchenette and opened the fridge. “Want some beer?” He took two bottles. She eyed him silently for a second, but the cold bottles in his hands were way too tempting. She nodded and he popped them open and walked over again, handing her one of the bottles before he took a seat across from her on the sofa. She wrapped her fingers around the cold glass bottle and enjoyed the feeling for a moment. She was still two years away from legal drinking age but who the hell cared anyway now, right? Besides, she had shared a beer or two with Daryl a few years back. It wasn’t new to her.

She brought the bottle to her lips and took a sip. She swallowed it and sighed contently, closing her eyes for a second to fully enjoy the taste and coolness of the golden liquid. She opened her eyes again as she remembered she wasn’t alone. Negan looked at her amused as he sipped from his bottle too, cocking an eyebrow at her.

“Tastes good.” She said and scratched at the label, scraping the paper away from the glass. “Not the best beer I ever had but still…”

“Look, I didn’t just invite you for a beer or two.” He leaned forward a little and put the bottle onto the table. He looked at her with a more serious expression. She couldn’t really say what made her more uneasy: when he grinned his cheeky, cocky smiles or when he turned serious.

“Oookay.” She said slowly and looked at him too.

“I’ve seen you out there. Your outburst before I joined you.”

She remembered how she went all crazy in the rain, barefoot and killing a walker. She shrugged. “So? I was angry.”

“No, no, you were furious. You were fucking out of control.”

“As if you’ve never been out of control.” She huffed and folded her arms in front of her chest. “And even if so…that’s not your problem.”

“Didn’t say it’s a problem, did I?” He chuckled and snatched the bottle again and took another sip.  

“Then why the hell are we talking about it now?” She asked.

“I fucking like your temper, girl. I could really use someone like you on my team.”

She groaned. “How many times do I have to tell you that I won’t join your ‘team’?”

“How many times do I have to tell you that you’re not gonna be fucking happy much longer if you keep living under your dad’s watchful eyes?”

She sipped from her bottle again, a long sip until the bottle was empty. She bumped it onto the table and pointed her finger at him. “My father is a survivor. He managed to keep his kids and most of his friends alive.”

“Most isn’t all, though.”

“Oh yeah? Bet you have lost friends too. These things happen. That’s how our life is now. Why can’t we just all co-exist in peace? Without any more bloodshed? Isn’t this damn world fucked up enough with those damn walkers? Do we have to fight each other instead of finding a way to live together in harmony? Each to their own? Each under their own set of rules?”

“Love, peace and harmony, huh?” He chuckled. “You really are fucking crazy, babygirl.”

“I already told you to stop calling me that.”

“What? Crazy?” He grinned and caught the pillow she threw at him.

“Just shut up.” She grumbled.

“Fine. Alright, I guess there’s no other way around it. I’ll be honest with you. And you’ll be honest with me. Okay?”

She furrowed her brow. “About what?”

“About our fucking past. I will tell you mine. You will tell me yours. Deal?”

She stared at his gloved hand he was offering her. Reluctantly she reached over and took it, squeezing his lightly. “Deal.”

They both leaned back in their seats and Negan began. And Daisy was definitely not prepared for what he was telling her.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the amazing support! I love and enjoy each and every kudo and especially all those lovely comments! Keep 'em coming, folks! :D 
> 
> Now, for this chapter I'd like to say that I took the liberty to create a background story for Negan myself and not go the path the show/comics did. Hope you still like it this way!

* * *

 

She had shifted a little on the armchair, crossing her legs, fingers still clutching the beer bottle as she looked at Negan. He leaned back on the sofa and rubbed his chin for a second before he finally seemed ready to talk.

“I was a fucking asshole. Probably still am, but back then I was a different asshole. I loved my wife. I really did, but I cheated. A lot. Mainly with those desperate soccer moms and moms of the baseball kids I trained in school. They were easy prey.”

She rolled her eyes. “Prey? Seriously?”

“I never forced anyone to do anything. I am not a rapist. I would never—“His voice broke for a second, a mild hint of pure rage vibrated in his throat.

“Okay, go on then.”

“We broke up. Lilian took our daughter and left pretty much in the middle of the night after I didn’t come home from work. Coming back the next morning I found their stuff was gone. Their clothes, the books…Lucille’s toys. Simply everything.”

Daisy was just about to take a sip as she halted and lowered the bottle a little. “Wait—Lucille?”

He nodded. “My daughter. She was six at that point.”

She remained silent, thinking of the baseball bat he obviously had named after his daughter and she wondered if there was a specific reason for it. Who would name a baseball bat he’d use as a murder weapon after his own child? The question burned on her tongue but she swallowed it. She didn’t want to anger him. She wanted to hear the rest of the story. She would never forgive him what he’d done to her friends, what he’s still doing to her family and her community, but still there was a small part in her that wanted to simply understand this man and his actions.

“Anyway, one day I got the call from the hospital. Lilian had been brought in after she collapsed in the middle of the street after picking Lucille up from school. She must’ve kept me as her emergency contact, even after everything that had happened. So, I rushed to the hospital. I just arrived as the doctor talked to her. About the diagnosis.”

“Cancer?” Daisy took a guess. It could’ve been so much else, but in the end it always turned out to be the 21st century plague. Negan nodded and took a sip from his beer too before he continued.

“Cerebral tumor. The following days they did some more tests. Turned out to be fucking inoperable. They couldn’t help her. No one could. I sat by her side, for hours. Only left to take Lucille to school or pick her up. She spent her after school time in that fucking hospital room. Little babygirl sitting at the fucking sterile desk. Short legs dangling over the edge of the fucking sterile chair. Doing homework. Painting in her coloring book. I don’t know if she realized how severe the situation was. Or that her mother might not have much time. That her mother wouldn’t be able to help her get dressed for prom someday. That she wouldn’t be there to cheer at her graduation. That—“ He inhaled and exhaled deeply for a second. “That her mother would never be able to see her marry a great guy someday.”

He emptied his bottle and got up. “Want another one too?” He gestured at her bottle. She had completely forgot she was still holding it even though it was empty by now. She nodded and handed the empty bottle over and watched him as he went to the fridge. She couldn’t believe what he had just told her. No, not  _what_ he had told her. It was the way  _how_  he told it. Hell, she had a hard time fighting back tears. She was aware her eyes were still a bit glossy as he returned to her. She took the bottle and looked down at it, clearly avoiding his gaze. She didn’t want him to see how much this story had touched her.

“One day I came to the hospital, Lucille holding my hand as we walked into the room. Liliane looked at the ceiling, as if we weren’t even there. Her hands folded like she was praying. And I could see it. Right in that very fucking second that something wasn’t right. Her hands were not moving. They should’ve fucking moved up and down. Up….and down…with the rhythm of her breathing. But she didn’t breathe. She did not breathe anymore. All I could hear was the voice of Lucille. She must’ve let go of my hand without me noticing. I saw her climbing onto the bed and shaking her mother. She was so little. So young. So innocent. But she knew it. She knew her mother was gone. She tried so desperately to wake her up anyway. The doctor came and informed me she had died not long ago. They had tried to call me. They didn’t reach me. I had my fucking cell on silent mode. I—Lucille and I never had the chance to properly say goodbye. My wife died alone.”

Daisy was aware of a tear rolling along her cheek. Quickly she brushed it away and sipped her beer. She cast a glance at him and saw how his face was just a grimace of pain. And regret. She couldn’t help but feel the sudden urge to take his hand. To say something nice. Something comforting. But again, her mind reminded her who that man was. And what he had done. She couldn’t bring herself to comfort him even though she felt immensely sorry for him. No one deserves something like that. He had been a cheating husband, but obviously a good father. She was sure he’d done everything for his little princess.

“I was so angry with myself. I kinda…snapped. I closed the door and pushed the wardrobe in front of it. I didn’t want anyone to come inside, to interrupt us. I wanted to have time to say goodbye. I wanted to give Lucille time to say goodbye. Even though Lili couldn’t hear us anymore. There was just one thing I didn’t know back then.”

She suddenly felt her heart squeeze a little in her chest. “She…she turned.” She said as a matter of fact.

“Yes. Fuck yes, she did and I had no idea why it happened. Or what happened at all. Lucille was clinging to her dead mother when I saw her fingers twitching. Stupid me thought this had just been a fucking dream. That I dreamed and just woke up to see Liliane well and alive. That was when I saw her eyes. They opened so sudden. And they were dead. Her eyes were dead and the sound that came from her throat was…out of this world. It was so deep. Lucille screamed as her mother grabbed her and I saw her teeth chomping, pulling her little girl closer. I ripped Lucille out of her hands before she could bite her. I pressed my little girl against my chest and stumbled backwards, my back hit the wall as Liliane moved, slowly, rolling out of the bed. She hissed and growled at us, trying to reach out while she crawled along the floor. I didn’t know what to do. I just knew I couldn’t let her be like this. I have seen zombie movies as a kid. And up until that day I thought they were just…movies. Stories. Definitely not real. But what I saw right in front of me was real. So fucking real. And I remembered. I remembered what the people in those movies always did. They bashed the zombie’s heads in. Lucky me. I had my baseball bat with me that day. I let go of Lucille and grabbed the bat.  _Close your eyes, babygirl! Don’t look!_  I called to her and she did what she was told, pressing her little hands in front of her eyes, crying and whimpering while I lifted the bat.”

_I’m sorry._

He remembered the last thing he had said to his wife. He sighed heavily and sipped more beer. “I killed her. I killed the mother of my child. I know now she wasn’t my wife anymore at that point. She wasn’t Liliane anymore. She as just…a soulless shell.”

“What happened then? I mean…” Daisy gestured at the bat leaning against the wall. “The bat is here. I suppose it is the same one, right? Modified, but still it is the same bat. It’s named Lucille. But I haven’t seen a girl named that around.”

“When I grabbed her and left the room I could hear screams in the hallways, and in the other rooms. I could see more walkers. I hurried down the hallway, away from them as fast as I could. I stopped just for a second in front of a room with a guy. I heard he was a police officer, been shot on duty and currently in coma. For quite a long time by then. I pitied that guy for a second. He’d just lie there and be eaten alive by these monsters. I thought about taking him with me but fuck it, I had to save my daughter and myself. Couldn’t burden myself with a comatose guy. Well, we left the hospital unharmed and just drove. Back to Liliane’s place. We stayed there for a long time. While shit hit the fan outside we seemed to be safe inside. We hid for almost a year. Everything went smoothly, until one day. I handed her the bat and told her to hide until I’d return from my scavenger hunt. I had taught her how to use a baseball bat. She knew how to handle it in case of emergency. Which I didn’t hope to come. She had kissed my cheek and told me she loved me. And I told her the same. Looking back now I should’ve stayed with her. We always said goodbye and kissed our cheeks but never had she ever said she loves me before. I mean, since we were hiding. It was like an omen. I just didn’t see it back then. I returned after one hour. One fucking hour. The door was open and I just ran inside. I saw the dead walker lying in the hall and a line of blood. Blood that I knew could not belong to that beast. I followed the trail and found my babygirl lying in the living room on the sofa. And she was not alone.”

_“Who the hell are you? Get away from her!”_

_“Easy, buddy, I mean no harm. Found her trying to hit that fucker in the hall with that bat.” The man had gestured over to the baseball bat lying next to the sofa. “She had a hard time hitting its head. I just heard her screams while driving by your house. I stopped to check what’s going on. I took the bat from her and bashed that fuckers head in. But I saw it had been too late already. A bite mark was on her arm.”_

_Negan pushed the guy aside and knelt beside the sofa, clutching Lucille’s little hands in his strong, warm ones. “Hey, honey. I heard you were so brave today. I am so sorry. So sorry I left you alone.”_

_“It’s fine, daddy. It is dead. I defeated the monster. He helped me though. His name is Simon.” She looked at the man._

_“I know. I know he did.” Negan said and smiled at her gently. “Everything will be okay. Okay?”_

_“Will I see mommy again? When I am…dead?”_

_The tears burned in his eyes as she said that. He tried to hold them back, but he choked a little. “You will see her again one day. But not today. You’ll stay with me. You hear me?”_

_“It’s okay. I know I will die.” She looked down at the wound. “I’m afraid. I’m afraid it will hurt. Will it hurt, daddy?”_

_He couldn’t hold back the tears. They just kept flowing down his cheeks while he leaned down and kissed her hands. “No, no, baby, it won’t hurt. It will be like….sleeping.”_

_“Promise me, daddy. Promise you find me? Someday?”_

_He leaned his forehead against her and kissed the tip of her nose. “I will find you. We will be together. You, mommy, and me. A real family.”_

_She smiled at him and pulled her hands free, wrapping her arms around his neck. He helped her sit up and hugged her back tightly, burying his face in her hair. “I love you, Lucille. I always did, and always will.”_

_“I love you too, daddy. I will be your little angel soon. And always be with you.”_

_They kept hugging._

“Until she died in my arms that night.” He finished his story and remained silent for a long time.

Daisy didn’t dare to speak, but she allowed her tears to flow for a moment. Then she brushed them away and grabbed a tissue from the box on the table to dry her tears. “Wow…I…I don’t know what to say.”

He watched her thoughtfully. “There’s no need to say anything. You should know that you’re the only person who knows about this now. Besides Simon. And I want it to stay like that. No word about this to anyone. Is that clear?”

There he was again. Negan commanding things. She nodded though. “My lips are sealed. Listen, I do feel terribly sorry for what you’ve been through. And for your losses. But I hope you know that this won’t change anything between you and me. I am not going to join the Saviours. Nor will I—wait a second.” She suddenly remembered something he had mentioned in his story before. “Which hospital was it? Where did that happen?”

He blinked a bit surprised by her question. “Uhm…Harrison Memorial. In King County. Why?”

“Holy shit.” She muttered. “The guy in the coma? The one you’ve seen for a second there? That was…that was my dad.”


	11. Chapter 11

„Are you fucking serious? You’re telling me I nearly saved your dad’s life back then?“

“Seems so, yeah. I mean, it was the same hospital, a cop shot on duty who was in coma.” She said and sipped some beer.

“Damn, imagine how fucking different our story would be if I saved his ass. You and I—“

“We might actually be on good terms. Maybe even friends. I guess.” She mumbled. It was probably the alcohol speaking right now. “I get it, though. Why you left him behind. He meant nothing to you and he still doesn’t.”

“Believe it or not, I actually kinda like your dad. He’s—different than the other so called leaders I’ve met since this whole thing started. He pretends to work for me but I know damn fucking well he would kill me the second he gets the chance. A real chance. A one on one thing without Lucille or a gun. He’d fucking shoot me without blinking. Without hesitation.”

“Are you afraid of my dad?” She asked with a teasing grin and giggled a little.

Negan grinned. “Are you tipsy, missy?”

“No, I’m not and you definitely avoided my question.” She grinned back at him maybe a bit too playful.

“Okay, if you insist. No I am not afraid of your dad. I am not afraid of anyone.”

“Riiiiiight.” She emptied her bottle and bumped it on the table. “That only shows that you are not human. Or…human…ish…whatever. Every human is afraid of something. Come on, tell me. What are you afraid of?”

“What makes you think I would tell you? So you can run off back home and tell your people how to get to me?” He replied and emptied his bottle too. He leaned forward.

“Oh, come on, you don’t trust me?” She said playfully offended. “Okay, let’s play a game!” She suddenly exclaimed and sat cross-legged now. “How about truth or dare?” 

He laughed. “Truth or dare? With two people?” 

She shrugged. “Why not? Makes it more interesting, don’t you think?” 

“If you say so. Alright, you pick first then. Truth or dare?” 

“Hmmm….truth.”

“Boooring.” He grinned. “So, tell me, what are YOU afraid of, missy?” 

“Spiders.” She grinned. “And the death of my beloved ones.” She looked at him and held his gaze for a moment. “Your turn….” 

“Let’s spice it up a little. I take dare.” 

“Afraid of telling the truth, aren’t you? Okay, I dare you to…..hand over Lucille to me.”

For a split second he cast a glance at Lucille leaning against the wall. Then back at her. Daisy grinned cheekily and cocked an eyebrow at him. 

“You’ve handed her over to my dad once…Why hesitate now?” 

He huffed amused and grabbed the bat and slowly handed it over to her. Daisy wrapped her slender fingers around the hilt. “So, that’s how it feels to hold the murder weapon.” She muttered and inspected the barb-wired tip. “I’m sure it hurts like hell…being beaten to death with it. The wire ripping your flesh, gnawing at your bones like a wild predator.” 

He furrowed his brow as he watched her silently. Her eyes suddenly so distant as if her mind wasn’t in this room anymore. He leaned forward and asked quite honestly concerned. “You okay, missy?”

Her eyes flicked to him and she blinked once, twice and finally seemed to be back again. “Huh? Yeah, sure, I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I?” 

“You appeared quite fascinated.” He gestured at Lucille. “She’s fucking beautiful, isn’t she?

“To be honest…yeah…kinda.” She mumbled. “You know what I’d love to do now?” 

He remained silent and she continued, “Beat the shit out of a dirty walker with her.” 

He bit his lower lip and grinned. “Damn, that escalated quickly. You fucking serious? Taking out a walker with her?” 

“Yep.” She swung Lucille a little. “I just…want to know how it feels to kill with her. After all…you enjoyed killing my friends with her.” 

“Never said I enjoyed it, but I get what you’re saying. Well then, what are we waiting for, missy? Let’s beat the crap outta one of these fuckers.” 

* * *

“Woohooooo! Take that, bitch!” Daisy exclaimed as she killed her third walker in the fenced off area. She panted heavily and stepped back, her back bumped against Negan’s chest. 

“Not bad, missy. Let me just show you how to hold her properly for maximum effect.” He suddenly placed his arms around her and began adjusting her hands. “Just like that.” He swung with her. She felt a shiver running down her spine and she pushed away from him.

“I got it.” She said and approached another walker, swinging Lucille a lot harder this time. The walker’s head flew off. She laughed and turned towards Negan again, blood splattered on her face a bit and a triumphant grin on her face. 

“Fuck, you’re one crazy lady, Daisy Grimes!” He laughed and approached her. He took Lucille from her and they left the fenced area. “Gotta admit, that was fucking sexy.” 

“You’re lucky I’m tipsy or else I’d beat the shit outta your face.” She punched his shoulder and stumbled a little. He steadied her as she clung to his shoulder. “I better take a nap now.” She mumbled as she looked into his eyes, his face so damn close in front of hers that she could feel his hot breath on her skin. For a split second her eyes flicked to his lips but returned quickly to his eyes again. As a big cheeky grin grew on his face she pushed away from him. 

“I’m tired. See you later. Or better not. I don’t wanna see you again today.” She said quickly and hurried inside. Once she entered her room she leaned against the door and groaned. She tried to calm her wild beating heart down, then went to the bath and took a long shower to scrub blood and sweat off. 

Once her head touched the pillow her eyes closed and her mind slowly came to a rest. What she did not expect was the last picture her mind showed her right before she drifted to sleep. 

_Fuck._

She thought as her lips touched Negan’s in a long and sensual kiss.


	12. Chapter 12

A couple hours after Daisy had laid down to rest, she woke up feeling even groggier than before. And not just that. She remembered every piece of the dream she had. Negan’s lips capturing hers in a surprisingly gentle kiss, his stubble lightly scratching her skin. The way his hand pressed against her lower back, bringing her closer against him. Her arms wrapped around his neck, kissing back with passion and need.   
She groaned as she remembered these details. With a heavy sigh she sat up and took a sip from the water bottle on the nightstand. Why the hell would she even dream about him this way? She didn’t even like him. Not at all. And most definitely not in a physical way. Or maybe she did? Maybe she just decided to ignore the want and the need that was scratching at the surface of her entire being.

“No.” She grumbled determined and placed the bottle aside. “I do  _not_  want what my drunk, sleepy brain made up.” She pushed the blanket aside and got up. She walked over to the window and looked outside, her forehead leaning against the cold glass. She spotted Negan talking to his best friend and second in command, Simon, while a couple of men unloaded a truck. She was just about to turn away from the window when suddenly, gunshots rang through the air outside. She stared as two of Negan’s men dropped dead to the ground in front of the back of the truck. Simon pulled Negan aside to cover while they all drew their guns, pointing them at the truck.

“What the…?” She muttered as she saw a figure with a machine gun in hands. As two other men tried to approach the attacker, more gunshots followed and killed them right away. Just then Dwight managed to disarm the figure and pulled him down from the truck and pushed him to the ground, pointing his gun at the boy’s head.

“No!” She exclaimed more to herself than to anyone else since she knew they couldn’t hear her. She hurried out of her room, down the hallway. Her heart beating rapidly in her chest as she pushed the door open and stumbled outside.

“Carl!” She called. “Don’t you dare hurt him!” She then yelled at Dwight pointing his gun at her little brother’s face. She hurried over and was held back by Negan as he spotted her. “Let me go!” She growled at him and pushed his hand away and dived between the gun and her brother.

“Stay out of this, girl.” Dwight groaned.

“I won’t stand idly by while you threaten to kill my brother, asshole! Now put that gun away or I swear I’ll cut your guts out of you and strangle you with them til you die!”

Dwight hesitated and looked over at Negan. She followed his gaze and saw Negan, Simon and the others stare at her for a second. She could see the hint of a smile tugging at Negan’s lips though. He stepped closer to Carl and her.

“I don’t think that’s necessary, missy.” He then looked at Carl. “I mean, look at him…he’s adorable.” He picked up the gun Carl had used moments before. “You picked that gun cause it looks cool?” He grinned. “You totally did, didn’t you? Kid, I ain’t gotta lie…you scared the shit outta me.”

Daisy looked at him. “So much for not being afraid of anything.” She said. She couldn’t hide the teasing tone entirely though.

Negan grinned at them both and offered Carl his hand. Carl looked at the man angrily and even a bit confused, then his gaze landed on his sister. She scowled at him a little and pulled him up with her, both ignoring Negan’s offer to help them up.

“Come on, kid, I’ll show you around.” Negan then said.

“Wait…give me a minute.” Daisy said, her hand automatically touching his arm while she looked up at him. “I need to speak with him alone first.”

Negan looked down at her, then over his shoulder at Carl. “You’re lucky that I like your sister that much, kid. Fine, you get five minutes.”

“Thanks.” She smiled lightly and grabbed Carl’s hand and pulled him inside with her. She led him to her room and slammed the door shut. “ _What_  the hell were you thinking?” She snapped at him. “You could’ve got yourself killed, Carl!”

“I came to get you out of here, Daisy!”

“I don’t need your help, okay? I would’ve returned in two days from now and…fuck, couldn’t you just wait two more fucking days?”

Carl stared at her quite in disbelief. “What is wrong with you? He also still has Daryl! Have you seen him around?”

She blinked. She honestly had completely forgotten that Daryl was probably locked up somewhere nearby. She groaned and drove a hand through her hair. “Look, I don’t know where Daryl is. I was injured when I came here and believe it or not but without Negan I might be dead.”

“Oh you want me to go and kiss his feet for saving your life? He could’ve easily taken you back home so  _we_  could take care of you, but no, he decided to kidnap you instead.”

“He…saved…my…life, Carl! Trust me, I don’t like that thought either but I  _am_  happy to be still alive thanks to him. You cannot just storm in here, kill some of his men and expect things will turn out good. That is not how Negan works. That is…god, you ruined everything!”

“Ruined? What are you talking about? What the hell did I ruin, Daisy?”

“Forget it, okay?” She grumbled and looked over as a knock sounded from the door. “Yeah, come in.”

Negan pushed the door open, Lucille casually leaning against his shoulder. “Finished your little sibling talk?”

“Let him go, okay? He just did what he thought was right. He thought I’m in danger…”

“You  _are_  in danger!” Carl exclaimed and pointed at Negan. “He is dangerous, Daisy!”

“Shut up now, will you?” Negan suddenly snapped. “And now come on.” He gestured Carl to follow him.

“What are you gonna do to me?” He asked warily.

Negan sighed and rubbed his face as he turned towards them again, his eyes fixed on Carl. “Number one: do not shatter my image of you. You’re a badass. You’re not scared of shit, don’t be scared of me. It’s a disappointment.” He inched closer to the boy. “Number two: You really want me to ruin the surprise?” They held gaze for a moment until Negan continued. “Screw you, kid. Seriously, “He bit his lip with a cheeky grin as he put his gloved hand on Carl’s shoulder. “Screw…you.” He pushed Carl gently forward as a sign to walk with him.

“Wait! Where are you going? You’re not gonna hurt him, right?” Daisy caught up with them as they stepped out into the hallway.

“Nah, just givin’ him the grand tour. Maybe he starts liking this place just as fucking much as you do.” He chuckled.

“I don’t…”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that, missy.” He winked at her and much to Daisy’s own anger, her tummy just did another flip-flop. “Oh, and take her for me, okay?” He handed Lucille to her. Daisy took it without hesitation while she walked side by side with him. Carl walked slowly in front of them.

They entered the huge factory hall together. Distinct chatter reached their ears since several people were chatting with each other. Negan leaned in closer to Carl and whispered, “Check this out.”

He walked over to the railing, putting his hands on the cold metal as his gaze drifted over the men downstairs. Carl and Daisy stood to each of his sides; as the men spotted him they stopped chatting and almost simultaneously knelt down. Daisy had seen this once before during her time at the Sanctuary but never in such extent. She once saw four men kneeling as Negan walked by them but this right now was on a whole new level. She was aware that a lot of them eyed her for a moment, holding Lucille just as casually against her shoulder as Negan would do. And shit, the feeling flooding through her body in this moment was quite overwhelming. She felt good. She felt powerful. And, she couldn’t deny it much longer now, quite turned on.

She cast a glance as Negan as he announced, “The Saviours have gone out into the world and fought the dead and come back with some really good stuff. Some of that stuff can be yours if you work hard and play by the rules. Today, everybody gets fresh vegetables and dinner. No points needed.”

He turned away while the people downstairs clapped. He grinned at Carl, then winked at Daisy. “You see that? Respect. Cool, huh? They’re still on their knees.” He then called louder, “As you were!” And walked on. Carl stood in silence as he looked down, the people getting slowly back up to their feet. Then his eyes landed on his sister.

“You stand there with that thing in your hands and do nothing?” He hissed.

“Do what? You think I’ll use Lucille to kill him?”

“Uh…yes?”

“Dream on, Carl. He’d have a knife at my throat before I could make the first swing. I am not a fool. I started figuring out how things work here and it definitely won’t work by angering him.”

“So instead you decided to kiss his ass?” He grumbled and walked away following Negan. She felt her fingers tighten around the hilt of Lucille for a second, then she followed them too. She would not allow Negan and Carl to be alone. He tended to speak before thinking. But much to her surprise, all Negan did was showing Carl to a room for his own.

“You will stay in this room, until I come back and then we’ll have a long, nice talk. Completely civilized and shit. Is that clear?”

Carl nodded and looked at Daisy again as the door fell shut, leaving Negan and her in the hallway.

* * *

“That was quite a fucking eventful afternoon, don’t you think?” Negan took Lucille from her. “What’re you up to now?”

Images of her dreams flashed before her inner eye again, their hands all over each other’s bodies, lips kissing, nipping and biting each other, their necks; her back pressed against the wall, legs wrapped around his waist while he pounded into her hard and deep.

She blinked as she saw his hand waving in front of her face.

“Earth to Daisy. You okay, missy?”

For a long moment she just stared at him, her eyes quite lost in his and she felt her inner barrier breaking more and more. Suddenly she grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and pulled him down a bit, her lips crashing against his in a heated kiss. He responded without losing a heartbeat, pressing her closer against him, their bodies nearly melting into one. Their tongues immediately battling for dominance, hers finally surrendering and giving him permission to lead like two dancers performing a waltz in her mouth.

She felt his hands on her butt, squeezing it before he suddenly lifted her up. It was a miracle that he was able to do that while still holding Lucille too, but fuck it, he did it. Her legs immediately wrapped around his waist. She knew this was no dream anymore. This was too intense to be a dream. And it felt fucking good. Not even once breaking the kiss he stumbled into his room with her, kicking the door shut behind him and letting Lucille slid to the ground before her back hit his mattress, his weight keeping her beneath him. Finally, he broke the kiss and looked down at her with a grin. They both needed a moment to catch their breath.

“That came unexpected.” He chuckled.

“Don’t talk….” She reached up and pulled him down into another kiss. As she broke it she breathed, “Just fuck me…Negan.”

His eyes seemed to darken a shade, pure lust flooding his body. Just like her own. He pulled her up for a moment and pulled her shirt off over her head and tossed it aside before pushing her down again, his lips now moving along her neck, further to her collarbone – kissing, licking, biting softly. Daisy arched and moaned softly, one hand buried in his hair, pulling lightly. Her hips started moving up in need, pressing against his own while his fingers unhooked her bra in the front.

“Damn, those are some fucking beautiful tits.” He groaned deeply as his lips trailed further down, the tip of his tongue flicking against her left, then her right nipple. She moaned louder as he suddenly sucked in her nipple, his tongue dancing around it.

“N-Negan…oh fuck….” She groaned and panted, her whole body acting on its own, her mind had stopped protesting long ago. She wanted this. She needed this. She needed him.

Her heartbeat quickened as he let go of her nipple and began kissing and biting his way further down. He undid her pants quickly and pulled them down quite roughly together with her soaking wet panties.

“You’re so fucking ready for me already, huh? And I am fucking hungry.” He muttered and started licking away, lapping up all her pussy had to give. She started moaning louder as his tongue flicked deeper inside her, his hands holding her legs to keep her in place for a moment til they moved up to her breasts, squeezing and teasing her nipples again with his thumbs while he continued licking and sucking at her clit. He was aware of her body shaking and trembling more and more. The sounds escaping her sweet mouth spurred him on. Daisy buried her fingers in his hair, screaming in pleasure as the world exploded around her in a firework of pure ecstasy. She trembled, she gasped, she moaned his name over and over again as he kissed his way back up along her body until his lips found hers again, making her taste herself while she slowly came down from her high.

“F-fuck…that was….that was…was…” She mumbled weakly, a soft chuckle escaping her though.

“Fucking amazing?” He suggested and earned a weak punch against his shoulder.

“You’re so full of yourself.” She grumbled playfully.

“And now you’ll be full of myself too.” He replied and reached down to free his obviously hard cock from its prison but Daisy reached down, stopping his hand halfway.

“No.” She pushed him off her suddenly and got up. She pulled her pants back up and put her shirt back on, not bothering about the bra at all. “This…this was a mistake.” There it was again. Her mind had found back its strength. She slowly had come to realize what had just happened and it was wrong. No matter how good it felt it still was not the right thing. She shouldn’t have given in.

Negan sat up and looked at her. “I ain’t gonna force you to do anything. It’s all up to you, missy. But…just for the protocol…you started this.”

“And I will end it.” She snapped and hurried outside without any look back.


	13. Chapter 13

After the encounter with Negan, Daisy hurried to her room and locked the door. She groaned and dropped onto her bed. How could she give in to him? Why did her body betray her so much? But, and that frustrated her even more, why did she feel so awful for pushing him away? She felt like a selfish bitch who turned him on and received her own satisfaction just to leave him hanging. She was sure though that he found a way to find his relief. He had enough wives for that. She felt a sudden pang of jealousy rushing through her though. But before she could think too much about this, a knock sounded from the door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me. Open up.”

She got up and opened the door. Carl slid inside. Daisy closed the door and turned towards him. “Look, I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I know you came to rescue me and I shouldn’t have snapped at you.” She said and looked at him.

“It’s fine. Maybe I was foolish to think this could work. Though to be honest…I didn’t think about it that much.”

She grinned. “So…storming in here and killing his men wasn’t exactly a well thought out plan?”

They both chuckled as Carl and her sat on the edge of her bed. He looked at her. “Did he hurt you?”

She shook her head. “No, like I said. Without him I’d be dead.” She smiled at him. “So, I kinda owe him my life.”

“And that works perfectly for him, huh? He could now use this against you or dad to get what he wants. He could easily pull the ‘you owe me your life’ card whenever he needs something from us.”

She sighed. “I already told you that’s not how this man works. He isn’t pure evil. He’s…a mix of neutral and slightly chaotic evil.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“That means he doesn’t kill for fun or for sports. He kills for…justice. Revenge. But also justice. And respect. You’ve seen how the other people around here bow to him. They respect him.”

“They fear him.”

“Well, fear and respect often go hand in hand. Especially in times like these when the law of the old world has no meaning anymore.”

“Daisy, I fear for you. I really do. The way you speak…you almost sound like him.”

“Like who?”

“Negan. It’s as if he brainwashed you already.”

“That’s not true! I just play the game to stay alive.”

“Game? This is not a game, Daisy! I can’t believe you’re the older one. You’re so damn naïve!” Carl exclaimed and got up.

“Life  _is_  a game, Carl. One wrong move, one wrong decision and you’re dead. Game over. But if you’re smart and find a way around the dangerous obstacles thrown in your way and  _use_  them instead of giving in to your fear you’ll make it longer than others. If you play the game of life, you win or you die.”

“We all must die someday.”

“Yes, but some sooner than others. And I choose a longer life. I choose to win.”

Carl shook his head while he stared at her in utter disbelief. “I can’t believe those words really just left your mouth. I don’t know what happened the past couple days but…I genuinely fear for your sanity.”

“My sanity? Are you serious? Carl, I’m as sane as always.”

He remained silent and looked out of the window. Daisy got up. “Carl?”

He didn’t look at her as he spoke. “Remember when…when dad had his breakdown? At the prison? The time he thought mom was still…still alive or….or maybe not alive but he saw her and talked to her? Over a phone that didn’t even work?”

She nodded. “I do. Of course, I do. It was one of the hardest time for him.”

“Do you remember what happened in Alexandria? His aggressive breakdown in the middle of the street? Pointing his gun at people.”

“I remember everything, Carl. I just don’t get what you’re trying to say.”

He cast a glance over his shoulder. “It is in your blood too. Much more than in mine.”

Daisy stepped closer and tilted her head. “Are you saying I’m…unstable?”

“Yes, I do.” He turned towards her with an upset expression. “Dad had his phases of instability, mental breakdowns but he always pulled himself together after a while. He understood that it’s dangerous to give in to depression. But you…you never even shed a tear when mom died. You just…” He sighed. “It was as if you died on that day too. Something in you died on that day.”

Daisy felt a twitch in her right eyelid. “I didn’t shed a tear cause…cause I wanted to be there for you. I wanted to console you. Hell, you have seen her die! You pulled the damn trigger! What right did I have to cry? To give in to my own sadness?”

The silence that followed her words was almost unbearable for her. She turned away and walked to the door. “Go home, Carl.”

“But…”

“Go…home…!” She growled and stormed out of the room.

As she rounded the corner she bumped into that one person she didn’t want to see at all in this moment.

“Why in such a hurry?”

Without thinking Daisy pushed Sherry away. She stumbled backwards with a surprised squeak and crashed against the wall.

“Just stay the fuck away from me, bitch!” Daisy yelled and walked on but felt the other woman’s fingers in her hair, yanking her back.

“Who do you think you are, kid?” Sherry pushed Daisy against the wall.

She felt the cold of the wall pressing against her cheek. “You made a grave mistake, Sherry.” She hissed and brought her leg up, kicking the other woman between her legs. It didn’t have as much of an impact as it would have on a guy but still she could take the moment of surprise to get away from her.

“Don’t cross me ever again or I won’t be so merciful on you next time.”

Sherry stared at her as Daisy turned and walked on. “You make a mistake!” She called. “You really think he’s nice to you because he likes you? He’s a monster!”

For a second Daisy slowed down. “Did he fuck you?” She turned to look at her again. “Today, did he fuck you?”

Sherry looked confused. “What? No. He didn’t fuck anyone today. Why is that even relevant?”

Daisy felt a wave of relief wash over her. Despite him being denied sex earlier he hadn’t taken another woman instead. She had no idea what to think of it exactly but still it made her happy. A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

“What’s so funny?” Sherry asked.

“Oh, nothing.” She chuckled.

“You’re a freak, girl. An insane freak like him.” Sherry spat and approached her. Just as she passed by her she suddenly froze as she felt the cold steel at her throat.

“I suggest you stop insulting me.” Daisy breathed into her ear from behind, pressing the knife she had hidden in her boot. “Trust me, I can make you disappear and no one will ever know what happened to you.”

Sherry shivered, certain that the girl spoke the truth. She nodded. “Okay, I get it. Just…just put the knife down and I’ll be out of your way. Okay?”

“Good girl.” Daisy chuckled and lowered the knife as she stepped away from her. “And stay away from Negan.”

She huffed. “It’s not as if I throw myself at him.”

“Still…if he wants you…you say no. Is that clear?” She toyed with the knife in front of her face, tilting her head.

Sherry nodded. “Whatever…can I go now?”

Daisy waved dismissively and watched the other woman hurry away quickly. Once she was out of sight, Daisy laughed to herself and slid the knife back into her boot. She walked down the hallway too, unaware that her brother had witnessed everything.


	14. Chapter 14

_‚Wer’e on easy street…and it feels so sweet…‘_

Where the hell did that come from suddenly? Daisy stopped and listened carefully. This was definitely music. Quite…cheerful music. And it came from somewhere inside the building. Slowly she moved on, trying to follow the sound of it. The further she walked the louder it became and she realized that she was in a part of the building she hadn’t been before. Sure, she was here for barely a week now and yet so much had happened in the past days. Her encounter with Negan being definitely the biggest thing that had happened.

She shook her head and tried to clear her mind from these images. As she rounded a corner she spotted Dwight sitting in front of a door, a boombox next to him. And the song blared loudly in the hallway.

She tilted her head curiously and wondered what he was doing all alone down there but just as she was about to speak up she heard him say something. She couldn’t hear exactly what he said but the bit she did catch was:  _It’s your choice._

Was he talking with himself or…was there someone behind that door? Was it a prisoner? That was when it dawned on her. Daryl had been taken by Negan a few weeks ago. And within the past days she had spent at this place she hadn’t seen him anywhere. That could only mean that Daryl was behind that door and either Dwight tried to cheer him up with that song or…That’s when the song started again. Clearly put on repeat and clearly played to drive him mad.

She clenched her fingers into a first but told herself to calm down. She couldn’t help him and it was probably better to leave unnoticed. She retreated backwards and bumped into someone. She whirled around and blinked surprised as she saw Carl.

“You scared me to death!” She said with a hand placed on her chest. “What are you doing down here?”

“Same as you, I guess. Followed the music.”

 _And followed you._  He added in his thoughts. Since he had witnessed how Daisy threatened Sherry and told her to stay away from Negan as if she was jealous he couldn’t just sit back and wait. He had to find out what was going on with her.

“I think that’s where Daryl is held captive.” She said. “The song is repeating over and over again. They try to drive him mad.”

“Of course, they do. Negan is a sick bastard.”

“Yeah…” She mumbled and scratched her arm.

Carl watched her closely but couldn’t tell what she was really thinking or feeling in this very moment. He sighed and peeked past her around the corner.

“We need to get him out and leave this place.” He then said.

“What are you trying to do? Kill Dwight and take his keys? That’s stupid.”

“Not as stupid as…” He was about to snap at her but fell silent.

Daisy furrowed her brow. “Not as stupid as what, Carl?”

“Forget it.”

She rolled her eyes and walked past him. He turned to look at her. “Where are you going?”

“Getting some food. I’m hungry. And I am not gonna stand here while you plan another insane suicide mission.”

“I have seen you.” He blurted out.

“What?”

“Earlier…I’ve seen you and Sherry. I have seen you threatening her and…and telling her to stay away from Negan. Why did you do that? Why did you  _say_ that?”

“Look, Carl, I wanna go home too. With you and Daryl. But we must come up with a good plan first. We cannot go all crazy and hope everything turns out well. So, please, promise me you won’t do anything stupid. Okay?”

He grumbled a little but knew she was right. He wasn’t familiar with this place. Though Daisy surely was by now. Yet he pushed the doubts aside and nodded.

“Fine, I won’t do anything for now. But you better come up with something quick.”

She nodded and together they walked back upstairs. “Wanna have dinner with me? I could get us sandwiches.”

Carl shrugged. “Yeah, sure. Need a hand?”

“Yep, let’s go.”

Not long after, they sat in her room both digging into a pile of sandwiches and diet coke.

“I am so full.” Daisy chuckled afterwards.

“Me too. Those were really awesome sandwiches.”

“Made with love.” She grinned. Then she got up.

“Where are you going now?” Carl asked.

“It’s been getting late. And I’m full. Just need some fresh air before heading to bed. You can crash in my room.”

“Why can’t I take a walk with you?”

She sighed. “Maybe because I need some time for myself now?”

“Right…yeah, okay.” He said and went to the bed. “Be careful.”

She smiled at him. “I always am.”

* * *

Daisy spent a while outside, sitting on the steps and watching the men patrolling the fence. The sun had long set and the moon stood high in the sky already. She went back inside since it was quite fresh outside. As she wandered through the hallways she stopped in front of the door leading into Negan’s room. For a couple of heartbeats, she just stood and stared at the door, her mind racing. Finally, she reached out for it and opened the door silently. Looking left and right to check if anyone was watching she slid into the room and closed the door again. With her back pressed against the door she looked over to his bed where he was asleep.

The moonlight lit the room a bit, the light was rather eerie. Her gaze drifted to the baseball bat leaning against the nightstand next to him. Silently she stepped out of her shoes and tiptoed slowly over to the bed. She stopped and looked down at him, he seemed to be deeply asleep. His chest rose and lowered in a constant and calm rhythm. She drove a hand through her hair as she felt her heart skip a beat again.

Slowly she brought her hand closer to his face, her fingertips mere inches from his skin as suddenly his hand shot out and grabbed her by the wrist, stopping her from touching him. She squeaked and looked into his now open eyes. With a sleepy yet intense look, he eyed her for a long moment.

Wordlessly she began stripping out of her pants and shirt and straddled him, holding his gaze for a few more seconds as she felt his hands automatically resting on her hips. She bent down and graced his lips with hers playfully until he growled and captured hers in a passionate kiss. She put her hands on his naked chest, feeling the patch of dark hair against her skin while she rocked on him gently. She sighed contently as his lips wandered along her jawline, nibbling her skin a little. He began sucking and biting her sensitive spot right above her pulse. It sent shivers down her spine, feeling his lips on her neck like this. His beard scratched her skin and aroused her even more. And it was evident that he was just as aroused. The hard bulge pressing against her pussy while she dry-fucked him still. Her panties were soaking wet already and her nails began scratching his chest a little.

“You want this, babygirl?” Negan whispered into her ear and nibbled at her earlobe.

“Y-yes…”She said with a shuddered breath. “I want you. Now.”

Her fingers pulled at his pants, his hard cock bounced free. Daisy licked her lips, her eyes clouded by pure lust. She wriggled out of her panties and lowered herself on him, taking his thick cock inch by inch into her wet pussy. Her head fell back as a long, deep moan escaped her lips. Negan’s fingertips dug into her hips as she began rocking on him. Gentle and slow at first. She leaned down a little and gave him access to her tits. He sucked one of her nipples between his teeth while he met her rhythm, thrusting up into her while she slammed down onto him harder now.

“Fuck, you’re so fucking wild, missy.” He groaned and sat up, immediately biting her neck again while he pulled her against him hard and fast. Daisy’s cries of pleasure filled the room, her hands grabbing his hair, pulling a little. Suddenly he rolled over and pinned her beneath him.

“Now it’s my turn.” He grinned, panting heavily as he thrusted hard into her, the bed shaking under the impact and Daisy just screamed in absolute pleasure, nails scratching his back, leaving red marks on his skin but the pain was too sweet and too arousing to him. He picked up the pace, biting her shoulder while he slammed into her harder and faster.

“F-fuck….N-N-Negan…oh god, oh please….fuck me…harder.”

She whimpered and moaned and screamed louder and louder, her whole body was on breaking point.

“As you…wish…babygirl.” He growled and sped up a bit more.

Suddenly he seemed to have hit a very sensitive spot deep inside her. Daisy felt like a million stars exploded before her inner eye and for a moment it knocked the breath out of her lungs. She clung to him for dear life as he kept going, hitting that spot over and over again with such force that she feared she might lose consciousness at any second.

“Negan…I’m….I’m…”

Was all she could press out before the wave of her climax washed over her. She screamed her orgasm out into the world, tightening up on him, wrapping her legs around his waist as if not wanting him to pull out.

“Baby, I’m about to fucking cum. Release me…”

But she didn’t listen, she couldn’t even hear him properly at the moment. And it was too late by now. He couldn’t hold back much longer as he felt his own climax galloping towards him and hitting him like a brick. With a deep growl he shot his hot cum deep into her, filling her with all he had to give. Once he was completely spent he broke down on her, panting heavily with her, his face buried in the crook of her neck.

“That was fucking awesome.” He breathed.

“Mmmhmmm…it was…” She mumbled and released him from her tight grip. Negan shifted and rolled down from her. Normally that was the part where his wives had to leave. But fuck it. Daisy wasn’t his wife and this had been the best fuck he had in a long, long time. Without saying anything he pulled her against him and without protest she shifted and with her head placed against his chest they both soon drifted into a blissful sleep.


	15. Chapter 15

“Rise and shine, babygirl.”

Negan pulled the blanket away a little. Daisy grumbled and pulled it back over her.

“Let me sleep.”

“It’s fucking eight in the morning. Today’s the big day.”

“What day?” She mumbled sleepily.

“You’re going home.”

Slowly she opened her eyes. “What?” She breathed and sat up, looking at him with a mix of emotions raging in her eyes. The things she had done the last night, the feeling he inflicted in her with every touch, every smile, every silly joke. On the other hand, there was still hate and sorrow because of the loss of her friends. For many days Daisy had wished nothing more than to go home but now she wasn’t so sure anymore.

“You don’t look happy.”

“No, no I am. I totally am. It’s just…” She got up and gathered her clothes, quickly putting them on. “Promise this will be our…secret. You won’t tell my dad or Carl what happened between us. Deal?”

He grinned. “Ah, the classic walk of shame moment.”

She stepped closer and punched his arm lightly. “I mean it. One word from you to any of them or I might have to cut your tongue out.”

They looked at each other for a moment until he nodded with a cheeky grin. “Okay, you have my word. Even though I’m fucking dying to tell everyone about the best fucking sex I had in a long time. But my lips are s—“

Daisy suddenly tiptoed and pressed her soft lips on his in a quick but passionate kiss. She stepped back before he could place his hands on her hips.

“Fucking sealed.” He finished his sentence amused.

“We should go. I’ll tell Carl we’re leaving.” She went to the door and opened it. Before she headed out, she looked over her shoulder. For a split second, it was as if she was about to say something but she decided against it and left his room quickly.

* * *

The drive back to Alexandria was probably the most awkward one Daisy had ever experienced. With Carl sitting behind her while she sat next to Negan on the passenger seat made the entire situation quite surreal.

Negan cast a glance at her, then looked into the rearview mirror and saw Carl glaring at him. “Lighten up, buddy. You’re going home.”

“I don’t care.” Carl grumbled.

“The Grimes-charme. Legendary.” He laughed and turned right onto the road that would lead them straight to Alexandria. “I really do wonder what your dad was up to while you both were gone.”

“Obviously not what you thought he would do.” Daisy said still looking out of the window. Then she looked at him. “I bet you thought he’d come, guns blazing to rescue us.”

He grinned at her. “Damn straight, honey. That’s exactly what I imagined.”

“Stop calling her that.” Carl growled from behind.

“Pardon, young man. Your sister can speak for herself and she didn’t seem to mind. Otherwise she would’ve said something.” Negan said and cast a quick glance at her. She looked away and remained silent, shifting a little in her seat as she spotted the gates in the distance.

* * *

“Daisy!” Enid hurried towards her as she got out of the truck. She embraced her tightly and she hugged her back.

“I missed you.” Enid whispered and kept hugging her for a moment. Then she let go.

“Are you okay?” She asked and looked her over. Then her eyes flicked over to where Negan stood. “Did he hurt you?”

“No, I’m okay. Let’s talk later, alright?”

Enid nodded and walked over to Carl. Negan approached Aaron who had just joined them at the gate.

“Where is Rick?”

“He’s on a tour. He won’t be back until tonight, I guess.”

Negan grinned and looked over at Daisy. “Then I’ll wait. Come, show me your house.”

She cast a glance at Carl but he remained silent. She nodded. “Sure.” And led him to their house. “This is it.”

“That’s damn nice. Look at that.” He walked over to the sink in the kitchen and turned the water on and off.

“Running water. Groundbreakin.” Daisy said. “You have that too.”

He chuckled. “Why so serious?”

“You shouldn’t stay.”

“Why?” He slowly approached her. “Afraid you might not be able to keep your hands off me, babygirl?”

She rolled her eyes a little frustrated yet couldn’t help it as a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Stop it, okay?” She pushed him away lightly and walked past him.

“Fine, I’ll shut up and you will give me the big house tour.”

Daisy shrugged. “Where to first?”

“Surprise me.” He leaned closer with a cheeky grin.

“If you expect another kiss…it’s not gonna happen.” She patted his cheek playfully and walked towards the stairs.

“For someone so serious about ‘nothing will happen again’ you’re sending quite mixed signals.” He said amused and followed her upstairs.

“I am careful, that’s all.” She walked upstairs. “Are you coming or what?”

He followed her upstairs and suddenly stopped in front of a closed door. “What’s this room?”

“It’s nothing. Look, here’s my…”

“Daisy…I’m not stupid and you aren’t stupid either. Why is this door the only one that’s closed?” 

She pushed herself in front of him, trapped between him and the door now. “I can’t let you go in there.”

“Do I need to break this fucking door down?”

“No…just…be nice, okay?”

He furrowed his brow in confusion while he watched her turn around and open the door. He peeked inside and chuckled. 

“Wooow…look at her.” He entered the room and approached Judith. “Isn’t she an angel?” He picked her up carefully and turned towards Daisy. “Who is that?”

“That’s my sister. Judith.” She said, trying to ignore the tingly feeling in her stomach while she watched him holding the child. 

“She’s gorgeous. Like her sister.” He winked at her. “And she shouldn’t be up here all alone. She should join us outside. Let’s have a drink and enjoy the fucking beautiful weather.” 

Before Daisy could protest he was already on his way downstairs. “Wait!” She called and followed.


	16. Chapter 16

If Daisy thought the ride from the Sanctuary to Alexandria had been awkward she had no idea that not long after, she’d sit on the front porch of their house with Negan holding Judith on his lap.

„One thing’s for sure,“ He said and bounced the little girl gently on his leg. „Rick knows how to make pretty children.“

She rolled her eyes. „He’ll probably kill you for touching her though.“

„Hey, I don’t harm kids.“

„If I remember correctly, you forced my dad to cut Carl’s arm off.“

„Carl isn’t a toddler, is he?“

„Well, no, but he’s still a kid.“

„Do we really have to talk about this now? Let’s fucking enjoy this sunny day. You agree, Judith? Yes, you do. You dooo!“ He kissed her forehead and smiled brightly at her.

Daisy watched him silently, unable to hide the smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. Yet, it vanished quickly as she heard footsteps drawing closer and she spotted Carl storming towards them.

„Uh-oh.“ She mumbled and got up. „Carl, calm down.“

„Why is he holding her? Give her to me!“

„Carl, it’s okay. I’m here. I take care of…“

„Nothing! You take care of nothing! You know why we kept her hidden so none of his men or he himself ever knows about her! And you hand her over to him? Are you insane?“

„No, I’m not insane! I am right here taking care that Judith is unharmed. And she  _is_ unharmed, Carl. Now calm the  _fuck_  down and let me handle this. Leave us alone. Now!“

„But…“

„ _Now_ , Carl!“

She glared at her brother, just the way he glared back at her for a moment.

„Wait til dad hears about this.“ He turned and walked away.

„We’ll see about that, Malfoy!“ She called after him and slumped into the chair again with a frustrated sigh.

„You know…you’re fucking sexy when you’re angry.“ Negan said and looked at her with a cheeky grin.

She looked back at him and groaned. „Oh please, shut up.“

* * *

About two hours after their arrival in Alexandria it was evident that Rick would take some time to return. Negan grew a little impatient.

„You know what? I’m fucking hungry.“ He said as he handed Judith to her and went inside.

Daisy quickly got up and followed him. „We might have some snacks.“

„Nah.“ He waved her off. „I mean something really good.“ He checked the cubboards in the kitchen. „Aha!“ He said triumphantly and grabbed a box of spaghetti. „Now we’re talking. And look at that. Tomato sauce. Come, let’s have a feast.“

She watched as he grabbed an appron and put it on. She chuckled and put Judith into her high seat. „You can cook?“

„Surprised, missy?“

„To be honest, yeah, I am. What are you? The American apocalypse Gordon Ramsay?“ She stepped closer to the counter and leaned against it while he put pots on the stove.

„One might say,“ He winked at her and leaned in closer. „Did you know that a cook cooks best after a kiss from a beautiful woman?“

She laughed and shook her head. „Did you know that I know that you just made that up?“

„Let’s find out?“

She sighed. Should she really? She wanted it. She definitely wanted it. Her eyes flicked quickly to the front door, then to the window and finally she leaned closer too and pecked his lips quickly.

„Aww, that’s it?“ He pouted playfully. „Judith, what would you say? Was that a proper kiss?“

Judith remained silent like always and just looked at him with quite a  _what the hell do you want from me_  expression.

„I told you. We have to be careful around here.“

„Maybe you should consider moving to my place then. We can kiss and fuck all day long and no one cares.“

He put the spaghetti into the now boiling water and turned to her again. She smiled lightly.

„You know I can’t.“

He grinned. „Do I sense a ‘but I want to‘ in there?”

“Let me make the sauce.” She grabbed a can and opened it. “Carl and I…back when we were younger and times were still good….we once started a food fight with spaghetti.” She said and poured the sauce into the pot. “Mom was furious. The entire kitchen looked like someone was murdered in there.” She fell silent for a moment and stirred the sauce slowly. “Who could’ve known one day sauce splattered kitchens were the smallest problem.”

He sensed a little break in her voice. It was just very brief but evident enough for him. He stepped closer behind her and put his hands on her hips, leaning his chin on her shoulder. Much to his own surprise she didn’t push him away. Not this time. This time she really wanted him close, wanted to feel his warmth. Daisy kept stirring the sauce until Negan took the spoon from her and lifted it up with a bit sauce on it.

“Damn, that smells good.”

Daisy licked the spoon and hummed. “Mmmh…and it tastes good, too.”

Suddenly the front door creaked a little. Negan stepped away from her as Daisy turned around.

“Olivia?” She said as she saw who entered the kitchen. Olivia cleared her throat nervously, looking from Judith to Negan and finally at Daisy.

“I uhm…I promised Rick to take care of Judith.”

Negan grinned. “Well if that isn’t perfect timing. Bet you’re hungry, huh?” He said teasing her a little.

Daisy sent him a warning look. Then looked back at Olivia. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. I have everything under control.”

“No. No, it’s alright. I guess. I promised your father.”

“What you got there?” She pointed at the little can Olivia held in her hands.

“That? Oh, it’s for making lemonade.”

“Hell that’s great. Be a good girl and make some.” Negan said.

While Olivia prepared the lemonade, Daisy set the table while Negan was sitting at the table already. He smiled at her, rubbing his hands. She cast a glance at Olivia who lifted Judith on her arms and then leaned in closer to him.

“I’m not your maid, Negan. Next time you set the table.” She hissed.

“So there will be a next time then?” He said and winked at her. Daisy stepped away as Olivia came over and poured Negan a glass of lemonade. He chuckled and took a sip from it. “That’s good. Really good. Now, ladies,” He clapped. “I’m done waiting for Rick. And Lucille,” He put the bat on the chair next to him. ”Is hungry. Daisy, dear, pass the rolls.”

She glared at him for a second.

“Please?” He said with a smile.

Olivia looked from Negan to Daisy as the two held gaze for a moment. Finally Daisy reached for the basket with bread rolls and offered it to him. “You know, I’m not sure you’re aware of it, but you have arms long enough to reach for them yourself.”

“I know, but I just love the look on your face when I do this. That little…serial killer glare of yours.” He winked and took a bite. “Just like right now. Olivia, isn’t she just adorable?”

Olivia looked highly nervous and looked at Daisy. “W-well, she is. A-and she is uhm…she’s a good person. Not a serial killer.”

“So you say.” Negan laughed. “Keep that in mind, dear.”

He shook his head amused while he began digging into his spaghetti. The two women shared a glance and while Olivia didn’t seem to be hungry, Daisy was starving. And just like Negan she began eating eagerly.

Olivia couldn’t quite say what it was, but this whole situation made her feel highly uncomfortable. Not the fact she was sitting at the same table with that monster. But everything going on between him and Daisy. Something was up. Something strange was happening every time those two looked at each other. Just a moment ago she had the feeling as if sparks were flying around them. And that…was definitely a bad sign.

 _Daisy hates him like everyone else_. She thought.  _Those are clearly sparks of hate._


	17. Chapter 17

Right after they finished their meal together, Olivia took Judith and headed outside, leaving Daisy and Negan alone again. It was more than clear that Negan grew more and more impatient the longer Rick was gone. 

Daisy downed her glass of lemonade and bumped it onto the table. “I know just the perfect way for you to pass the time.”

He looked at her expectantly, a cheeky grin playing on his lips. “Is that so, missy? What’s on your mind then?”

She grinned and slowly got up. She stepped up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders, then drifting them down along his chest as she brought her lips close to his ear. 

“Mmmmh….how does….cleaning dirty dishes sound to you?” 

He chuckled. “Oh, you little minx.” 

She laughed and stepped away. “It’s only fair. I set the table.”

“And I cooked. Seems we’re at quite an impasse here.” 

“But  it’s better than sitting around, doing nothing til my dad returns, right?” 

“I have an even better idea. We will clean them together. We’re such a fucking awesome team.” 

“We’re not a team.”

“Yet.” He winked and got up, planting a kiss on her lips. For a second she melted into the kiss but then pushed him away. 

“I told you we can’t do this here!” She snapped. 

It was in that moment a knock came from the front door. Daisy went to open it and blinked surprised. 

“Spencer? What do you want?” 

She saw the bottle of whiskey in his  hands. He shrugged.

“I came to speak with Negan.” 

“Why?” She folded her arms in front of her chest, blocking his way in. 

Spencer leaned in closer and hissed, “That’s none of your damn business, Daisy. Now let me in.”

Negan appeared behind her, a hand on her shoulder. “Everything alright here? Damn, is that whiskey? That’s a fucking awesome housewarming gift.” 

Spencer walked past them into the house. “I thought it’s nice to pass the time til Rick returns. Just us men and a fine glass of whiskey.” 

Negan chuckled. “Looks like the dirty dishes are yours now, missy.” He whispered. Spencer had taken two glasses. 

“Shall we?” He gestured to the front porch. 

Daisy glared at Spencer, then at Negan. “Fine. Go. Do whatever you want  but….” She leaned closer to Negan. “He’s a snake. Be aware of that.” 

* * *

While Negan and Spencer sat outside on the front porch, drinking whiskey and talking about god knows what, Daisy piled the dirty dishes and began scrubbing them in the sink. 

“Hey.” 

She squeaked a little and turned around. “Jeez, Enid, don’t sneak up on me like that.” 

“Sorry.” She said and stepped closer. “Is everything alright? What’s he still doing here?” 

“Waiting for my dad. Probably wants a reward for safely returning us or whatever.” She continued cleaning the dishes. “You came in from the back, I guess?”

“Yeah, didn’t  want  to draw his attention on me. Btw, Spencer just ordered some people to go get the pool table from the house across the street.” 

“What?” She said confused and went to the window. “What the hell’s he doing?”

“Suppose Negan demanded something?” 

“Negan did not.” His voice suddenly spoke up behind them. 

They both turned surprised. Daisy looked from Enid to him. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She gestured out the window. 

“Oh, you know, I told your buddy out there some pool would be awesome right now. Care to join?” 

She furrowed her brow. “I…Well, if you insist.” 

He grinned and licked his bottom lip. “Awesome. Now, you,” He looked at Enid. “Give us some privacy.” 

Enid looked uncertain but Daisy nodded. Once Enid had left the house, Negan closed the door. “Now, tell me what you exactly think about Spencer besides him being a snake?” 

“Why? What did he say?” 

“Oh, some badmouthing about Rick.” 

She narrowed her eyes. “Damn, I wish I could just……rip his guts out and be done with him!” 

“Damn, have i ever told you how fucking sexy you are when you’re angry?” He said and pulled her closer. “Just say the word an it’ll be done.” 

Daisy looked up at him surprised. “What word?” 

“Do it.” He grinned. “All you gotta do is say do it. Understand? But first…let’s have some more fun.” He brought his face closer to hers. Her eyes flicked between his lips an eyes for a second before she closed the gap. The kiss was quick yet passionate. 

She stepped away. “Alright. Let’s have some fun.” 

* * *

“Wait, she’s playing too?” Spencer said as they left the house together. 

“Got a fucking problem?” Negan asked. “She’s my little…lucky charm.” 

“Right.” He muttere and eyed her suspiciously. Daisy just smiled a fake smile and walked to the table with Negan. 

“You have the honor to set the table, missy.” Negan winked. 

“As long as I don’t have to clean up after you.” She replied and arranged the balls on the table. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw that a group of Negan’s men and women had gathered to watch. Among them she also spotted some of their own group. Rosita stood glaring furiously at Negan, but Daisy didn’t pay much attention to her. She stepped away from the table. 

“You start.” Spencer said and watched Negan lean down to aim. The game went on for a couple minutes, both men just playing in silence. Until Spencer finally spoke up, without even paying attention to Daisy or anyone else nearby.

“I get what you’re trying to do here. What you’re trying to build. I’m not saying I agree with your methods.” 

Negan remained silent and pocketed the purple ball. 

“But I get it.” Spencer continued. “You’re building a network. You’re making people contribute for the greater good. Makes sense. But you should know, that Rick Grimes has a history of not working well with others.” 

Daisy eyed him with anger yet she forced herself to keep cool. Negan surrounded him with eyes fixed on the table. “Hmm…” He hit another ball. “Is that so?” 

“Rick wasn’t the original leader here. My mom was. She was doing a really good job of it.” 

Balling her fists she looked over as she saw Carl and Olivia walking over and standing on the front porch together. She looked back as Spencer continued.

“She died. Not long after they showed up.” He looked at Daisy and prepared his cue to play.  

“You didn’t just say that, did you?” Daisy hissed. 

“It’s the truth, isn’t it?” He replied. 

Negan signaled her with a move of his hand to keep calm. “Go on.” He then said.

“Same with my brothers. Same with my dad.” 

Negan took another sip of whiskey and leaned a little on his cue. “Eeeverything was peachy here for….years? And then Rick shows up and suddenly you’re an orphan? That is the saddest story I’ve ever heard. Good thing for you, he’s not in charge anymore.” 

“Doesn’t matter.” Spence looked up. “His ego’s outta control. Same counts for his offspring.” 

“You son of a….”

“Easy there, missy.” Negan said calmly. 

“He’ll find a way to screw things up. THEY will.” He cast a glance at Carl, then Daisy. “Trying to do his things to take over. That’s what he did with my mom. That’s what he’ll do again.” 

He hit the ball and pocketed it. Negan sipped from his whiskey again while looking at Daisy, raising his eyebrows for a second. Then looked back at him.

“What exactly are you proposing be done about that?” 

“I am my mother’s son. I can be the leader she was. That’s what this place needs. That’s what you need.” 

Negan grinned. “So you want me to put you in charge. That’s what you’re saying?” 

Spencer grinned. “You’d be much better off.” 

He sipped again and handed his glass over to Daisy. She had to pull herself together as to not crush it between her fingers. 

“You know…I’m thinking, Spencer. I’m thinking about how Rick threatened to kill me, how he clearly hates my guts. But he is out there, right now, gathering shit for me to make sure I don’t hurt any of those fine people who live here. He is swallowing his hate and getting shit done.” 

He leaned down for another hit. “That takes guts.” He pocketed the ball and put the cue down, pointing at him. “And then there’s you.” He approached him slowly, like a tiger would its prey. “The guy who waited for Rick to be gone so he could sneak over and talk to me. To get me to do his dirty work to take Rick’s place. So, I gotta ask, Daisy…” He said without looking at her. “What do you call a man like that?” 

She put the glass down on the table and stepped closer to them. “A fucking traitor.” She spat and glared at Spencer. 

“And I gotta ask you.” He looked at Spencer quite intense. “If you wanna take over why not just kill Rick yourself and just…take…over?” 

“Do it.” Daisy suddenly said. Negan looked at her and back at Spencer.

“What?” Spencer said confused. “I…I don’t…I didn’t…I.” 

“You know what I’m thinking? Cause I have a guess.” He leaned closer and whispered so only Daisy and him could hear what he had to say. “It is because…you got no guts.” 

Suddenly he rammed a knife into Spencer’s stomach. Olivia gasped as she saw what was happening. Negan grinned and pulled the knife out, Spencer’s bowels sprawling to the ground. He grunted in pain as he dropped on his knees and onto his side. Everyone looked on in utter shock while Daisy felt more than satisfied by the look of him dying on the street like that. 

“How embarrassing.” Negan said mockingly. “There they are. They were inside you all the time. You DID have guts. I’ve never been so wrong in my whole life!” He called and looked over at the others. Then he grinned at Daisy who smiled back at him a little, trying to hide it as best as she could from her group though. He walked over to the table again and took Lucille in his hands. “Now someone get over here and clean this mess up!” 

No one moved. No one spoke. 

“Oh. Anyone wanna finish the game?” 

Again no one moved. 

“Come oooon, I was winning.” He winked at Daisy. 

It was in that moment she saw movement from out of the corner of her eyes. She looked over just in time as Rosita lifted a gun pointing it at Negan. Daisy had just a split second to realize what she was gonna try. 

“NO!” She yelled and rushed over towards him. The bang rang loudly in the air. Then she only felt the sharp pain in her chest as the bullet hit her. The last thing she heard was Negan’s voice from far away and by the time his arms caught her, she passed out. 


	18. Chapter 18

Rick looked up in shock while he backed Aaron. They had been back in Alexandria for a little while, yet had been assaulted by some of Negan’s men. His heart sank all of a sudden as the sound of the gunshot cut through the air.

They hobbled faster down the street. As his house came into view all he could see was chaos. Spencer was lying dead on the ground, Rosita held down with her face on the pavement. But what was worse was Negan kneeling on the ground, cradling Daisy in his arms. A gun wound in her chest with blood seeping out of it.

“Daisy!” He exclaimed and limped over, pushing Negan aside without giving a fuck about the man and cradled her into his arms. “Daisy, hey, wake up.”

“She’s not waking up, she needs a fucking doctor!” Negan said. “That bitch tried to kill me and shot her instead, for fucks sake!” He growled and cast a furious glance at Rosita.

“This wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t here!” Rick growled and got up, lifting her up and carrying her to one of the cars.

“Where the fuck are you taking her?”

“Not that it’s any of your business but she’s going to the Hilltop. Your genius Dwight had killed our only doctor a long time ago!” He placed her into the back of the car and got behind the wheel. Carl had hurried over and jumped into the passenger seat. Before Negan could do or say anything Rick drove off.

Furiously Negan stormed towards his group and knelt in front of Rosita. “You made a grave mistake.”

“What’s gonna happen now?” Arat asked holding Rosita down with a gun to her head. He looked at her, then at the rest of Rick’s group. Yes, someone had to be punished for that. But it wouldn’t be Rosita. She should be alive to know how stupid it was what she had done. He took the gun she had used and inspected the remaining bullet. It was clearly a self-constructed one.

“Who made this?” He asked her.

“I did.” She hissed.

“Look, that’s where I call you not only a fucking stupid idiot but also a liar. I give you one more chance before I kill one of your friends here.”

She remained silent. Suddenly Eugene piped up, “I did. I did it. I made the bullet.”

Negan lifted his eyebrows as he turned towards him. “You?”

Eugene whimpered. He started rambling about how he had done it exactly until Negan groaned.

“Shut up. I believe you.” He put his hand on Eugene’s shoulder. His face was so close to his that Eugene could feel his hot breath on his skin. He shuddered, certain he would die next. “You…go with me now. One thing this fucking shithole doesn’t need is a bullet maker.” He stepped away and gestured his men to take Eugene with them.

“No!” Rosita cried out. “No, take me! Please!”

“SHUT UP!” He lifted Lucille and stepped closer, pure fury on his face. “It’s one thing to make a bullet, it’s another to fucking fire the gun. If Daisy dies…oh, you don’t wanna know what I’ll do to you then, chica.”

* * *

Rick paced frantically up and down in front of the room where doctor Carson was currently trying to safe Daisy’s life.

“Dad, sit down.” Carl groaned. “You’re driving me crazy.”

“How could that happen?” Rick muttered and drove his hand through his hair, sighing heavily as he stopped and turned to his son. “How could Rosita shoot Daisy?”

“She didn’t shoot her. Daisy, she…”

“What?” He sat beside him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just…I mean…”

“Carl, if there’s anything I should know you have to tell me right now.”

“Daisy…threw herself in front of him. She…”

Rick furrowed his brow. “Are you…saying that she took the bullet for him?”

Silently, Carl nodded slowly. Then looked at his father again. “I don’t know why. I really…she’s acting strange lately. I’ve seen it while we’ve been at the sanctuary. Something…I don’t know. I can’t really tell what it is. I just have a strange feeling recently.”

“What exactly happened at the sanctuary?”

He shrugged. “There’s this woman…I think her name was Sheryl or Sherry or something like that. Negan has some kind of harem, he showed them to me. He calls them his wives. I doubt they’re really married but apparently he likes to call them his wives. Whatever, Daisy and Sherry had quite a disturbing encounter.”

“Disturbing how?”

Carl rubbed the palm of his hand with his thumb. “Like some sort of cat fight? Daisy threatened her with a knife. Said she better stay away from Negan or else she’d kill her.”

Rick rubbed over his face. “I don’t get it. Is she following some stupid plan of her own? Trying to get on Negan’s good side to infiltrate and take him down herself?”

“I don’t know, dad. Only Daisy can answer this and right now she’s lying in there, fighting for her life after taking a bullet for that man. Look, I’ll try get you coffee or something.”

Rick nodded lost in thought while Carl walked outside. Just then the door of the doctor’s office opened and Carson stepped outside, blood still on his gloves. Rick jumped up, his eyes on the verge of tearing up.

“Is she okay?”

Carson nodded with a tired smile as he pulled the bloody gloves off, tossing them into a bin. “She made it. She was lucky the bullet didn’t hit any vital organs. I can’t tell when she’ll wake up but she’s gonna live.” He patted Rick’s shoulder.

“Can I see her?”

“Yeah, sure. Call me when she wakes up, okay?”

Rick stepped into the room. Daisy was lying in a bed. Images came flashing to the surface of his mind. This must’ve been how he looked like back when all this started. Lying in some kind of coma after being shot. At least, his little girl would wake up with her family around. With him being right there with her. He sat down on the chair next to the bed and reached for her hand, gently stroking over the back of it with his thumb, then squeezing it gently.

“Hey…It’s me. I don’t know if you can hear me, but I hope you feel that you’re not alone. I’m right here for you. Carl is here. You’re safe. You’ll live. And even though I don’t know what happened or why you’ve done what you’ve done, I want you to know that I’m not mad at you. I’m not mad at you for going out there on your own. For ending up injured and staying at the sanctuary. At least, I know he didn’t hurt you. He brought you two back home safely. Not that it changes anything. But I love you. You’re my little girl. I know you don’t like me saying that, I know you’re already a grown up, young woman and still…in my heart you’ll always be my little girl. I’d go through hell for you. For you, for Carl. For Michonne and everyone else of our group. They’re our family. We are a family. Always.”

“Dad?”

Rick looked up as Carl approached with two cups, one filled with instant coffee and the other with diet coke. He took the coffee and gestured Carl to sit. Carl sat down on the other side of the bed, both sipping their drinks silently.

“So, she’s okay?” Carl asked.

“Yeah, she’s been lucky.” Rick gently stroked over her cheek.

“You know, I don’t wanna alarm you but…there are guys out there. From the sanctuary. One of them is Negan’s right-hand man. Simon.”

“What? What are they doing here?” He got up and walked over to the window. He saw a group of men with guns, a big truck, and Simon listening to Gregory who seemed to argue with him. “Damn, Carl, stay with her. I’ll go see what’s going on. Close the door and lock it.”

Rick hurried outside and approached the two men. “What do you want?”

“Rick! Damn, what a mess, isn’t it? How’s your girl?” Simon asked.

“I said: what do you want?”

“Look, no one here wants any more bloodshed, right? We’re here to make sure your girl is fine. No other intentions. Promise.”

“As if your word is worth a damn. Why do you care about my daughter?”

“Me, personally? I don’t. Well, maybe a little. She’s a feisty one.”

Rick glared at him angrily. “TELL ME!”

“Negan wants to make sure she’s well and alive. That’s all.”

“You can tell him she is none of his business like I already told him. Tell him to stay away from my children!”

Simon chuckled. “You see, there’s this fun fact about Negan and your kids. He isn’t the one seeking them out. They flock to him voluntarily. Speaks volumes about you, doesn’t it?”

Rick wished nothing more than to punch this guy in the face but he knew they were outnumbered and he also knew those men wouldn’t leave before they got what they came for.

“Daisy is alive. She’s not awake yet. But she’s gonna make it. Now, go and tell him that and leave us alone.”

Simon chuckled. “See? Wasn’t that hard, was it?” He turned and signaled his men to get in the truck. He climbed behind the wheel and drove off.

Rick headed back inside and knocked at the door. Carl opened for him. “And?”

“They wanted to know how she’s doing.”

“Why do they care?”

“Negan does. And I want to know why.” He grumbled and downed his coffee. “Let’s hope your sister can give us the answer soon.”


	19. Chapter 19

„W-what happens to me now?“ Eugene stammered as he was pushed out of the truck once they arrived back at the sanctuary. Negan was already awaiting him in the yard, Lucille in hand.

“There he is.” He said and grinned at him. “The man of the hour.” He got closer again, staring at him with an unreadable expression. Eugene remained silent, uncertain what to say. Negan’s face fell. “Don’t be rude, asshole. Say hello.”

“H-hello.” He muttered.

“You got a name, asshole? Cause, you know, I’d like to know who the hell made that bullet that might take the girl’s life.”

“Eugene.”

He grinned. “Man, Eugene. I know you remember Lucille. You know, under normal circumstance I’d let you see her real close over and over and over again. But this isn’t a normal circumstance, is it? You see, all I wanna know is if you’re a smarty pants. You know things.”

Eugene looked at him confused, shivering and whimpering in fear still.

“Answer the god damn question.”

“I-I am a-a smarty pants. I taught myself to make the bullets. I f-found a—a machine shop. Found the necessary….I read a lot.” He rambled on and on until Negan cut him off, a laugh escaping him.

“Man, you really are just some asshole.”

The other men and women around them chuckled. Eugene cast a glance around. “No! I’m not! I have PhDs in biochemistry. And microbiology and I completed my doctorate which makes me a doctor. Prior to the collapse, I was part of a ten person team at the Human Genome Project, working under Dr. T Brooks Ellis to weaponize diseases to fight weaponized diseases. Fire with uh, uh know, f-fire. Well, see, interdepartmental drinks were…”

Negan rubbed his chin. “All right, Dr. Smarty-pants. You ought to be able to crack this without breaking a sweat. You see, I have a lot of free labor here at the fence. Living dead pricks that help keep the riffraff out. Problem is, they don’t keep. They fall apart. Like that poor sack of pile of shit there.” He gestured to a very much rotten walker. “So, Dr. Smarty-pants, you have a chance to make up for what you did to Daisy. Tell me, how do we keep them on their feet?”

Eugene sighed. “You, uhm, smelt on the regs, correct? I saw that among the legacy equipment on the floor that you possess an operational smelter.”

“And?”

“You already possess the means to resolve your issue. Step one, melt down scrap metal. Step two, pour it over the compromised walker as they are in contact with the chain link. The liquid metal will harden both maintaining bodily integrity for the walker as well as affixing them to the fence. Bonus points for covering their head and protecting them from head trauma from hostiles and calamities.”

Negan leaned back and chuckled. “God damn! If that ain’t the coolest thing I’ve ever heard in my life! Not only is that practical, it is just bad-ass! Whoa! Look at you Dr. Smarty-pants. Did Rick have you doing this kind of valuable stuff for him?”

He shook his head with a shuddered breath.

“Oh? His loss, our gain. You see, until I don’t know though what’s going on with Daisy I won’t decide your fate. Anyway, take him inside. Give him a room. Not the cell. Oh, and keep a close eye on him.”

Negan walked inside and to his room. Carefully he leaned Lucille against the wall and got out of his leather jacket. Then he poured a drink for himself and sat on the sofa with a sigh. Taking a sip from his drink while he looked out of the window into the distance. He knew the knowledge of this piece of shit named Eugene was valuable to him yet he still didn’t know if Daisy was alright and if she died then this piece of shit would die too.

A knock at the door pulled him out of his thoughts. “Yeah, come in.”

The door opened and in stepped Sherry. “Hey, I saw you’ve returned.”

“Obviously.” He downed the rest of his drink. “What do you want?”

She approached him slowly. “I thought maybe you could need some distraction.” She put her hands on his shoulders and was about to straddle him, but he pushed her away lightly.

“Leave me alone.”

“What? Suddenly you don’t want me?”

“Exactly. Now get the hell out.”

“It’s because of her? The little Grimes bitch?”

He got up and glared at her. “Don’t you fucking dare speak of her like that.”

She huffed. “Or what? You’ll get a divorce?” She said amused.

“Yeah, that’s right. That’s what I’m gonna do. I’m getting rid of you. Get your ass down to the working unit.”

Sherry stared at him. “You cannot be serious.”

“Do I look like I’m joking?”

“What comes next, huh? Banishing me if I don’t work?”

He stepped closer. “I might. And no, I won’t allow Dwight to go with you. He’s staying.”

“Will he be okay if I work instead of letting you fuck me?”

He laughed. “Yeah, yeah, he’s good. Now, will you work or will you go?”

“I will go.”

“You’d rather go out there on your own instead of doing some physical labor? Seriously?”

She shrugged. “Will I be allowed to be with Dwight again if I work?”

“You know, go do whatever you want. Leave and die out there, or stay here in safety and work for your stuff.” He pushed her out of the door and slammed it shut.

* * *

All of a sudden she gasped and opened her eyes. Daisy clutched her chest and groaned in pain as she looked around the room. She spotted her father and Carl who both jumped up. Carl opened the door and called for someone, she couldn’t hear who but not long after she saw Dr. Carson enter the room.

“Easy there, Daisy, everything’s fine.” He said while Rick took her hands in his. Slowly her breathing normalized and she blinked.

“W-water…” She croaked and coughed a little, wincing again. She drank eagerly as Rick put a glass against her lips. This water tasted like straight out of God’s fountain in paradise.

“Her vital parameters look good so far.” Carson said as he checked the beeping screen next to the bed.

Daisy squeezed her dad’s hand weakly as she looked at him. “What…what happened?”

Rick sat down beside her. “You don’t remember anything?”

“I…I  remember being home. Spencer he…Negan…oh my god, Rosita! She shot him!”

“No, honey, she didn’t. Well, she tried apparently. You caught the bullet.”

“I did?”

Rick looked at Carson. The doctor smiled lightly. “That’s a normal reaction. She’s still a bit high on meds too. Give her time to come down from everything. I’ll come check on her later again.”

He waited until Carson was out of the room, then turned back to her. “I was worried sick. I can’t bear the thought of losing you.”

“You won’t lose me, dad. Is Negan alive?”

A bit surprised about that question he nodded. “Yeah, he’s alive. Why?”

She shrugged. “Just asking.”

“Daisy, can you tell me why you jumped between him and the gun?”

“Kneejerk reaction?” She giggled. “Isn’t that a funny word? Kneejerk?” She clearly was way too high on meds still. Rick knew he wouldn’t get a proper answer from her at the moment. “What day is it?” She asked.

“It’s Friday.”

“Oh, how long was I gone?”

“Three days. Look, I don’t want to overwork you now or push you too much. You have to rest.”

“Rest sounds good.” She muttered sleepy again. “Is my bag here?”

“Your bag? No, there’s no bag. We brought you straight here. Do you want me to get it for you?”

She nodded. “Want to be alone. For a while.”

He smiled lightly and pressed his lips on her forehead. “I’ll be back in a few hours then.”

Once she was alone she relaxed a little. With any passing minute more and more came back to the surface. Images of the events three days ago flashed before her inner eye. How was she supposed to explain why she jumped in front of Negan?  _Why_  exactly did she do it anyway? She sighed and looked out of the window for a while. 

Slowly she came own more and more from her high, she felt her mind clear up. She reached for the bottle of water on the table next to her bed and drank eagerly again. As she shifted a little to put the bottle back on the table she felt something hard in the pocket of her pants.   
Furrowing her brow she reached under the blanket and pulled the device out of her pocket. It was the walkie talkie. She didn’t remember she had it in her pants the entire time.

She pushed the button. “Are you there?”

At first there was nothing. Of course, as if he would carry that damn walkie talkie with him too all the time. With a sigh she reached under the blanket again to put it away when the static noise stopped her.

“Is that you, missy?”

She pulled it out again. “Yes. It’s me. I’m here.”

“Fuck, I was worried like fucking hell. Simon told me you made it but damn.”

“I’m okay. I guess. Still sleepy. My chest hurts a bit.”

“Why did you do that? That was a fucking stupid move.”

“Is that how you thank me for saving your damn life?” She grumbled.

“She might have missed anyway. There was no need to do this.”

“And what if she didn’t miss?”

“Then…I might have still made it.”

She remained silent for a moment.

“Are you still there?”

“Yeah..” She mumbled. “I just…it’s all so complicated. You see, I wanted you dead so badly. But now I…I can’t imagine you being gone forever.”

“I won’t go anywhere, missy. Takes more than a self constructed bullet to kill me.” He chuckled. With a heavy sigh he added, “Thanks. I’m still a bit mad at you, but still…thanks. For saving my life. Though I guess you have quite a lot of answers to give to daddy.”

“I sent him away to get some of my stuff here. Buys me some time to come up with some excuses. Damn, all this is giving me a headache.”

“I know a way to cheer you up.”

“Oh yeah? And what?”

There as again just silence until suddenly a song played in the background. Daisy listened silently.

_I look and stare so deep in your eyes_

_I touch on you more and more every time_

_When you leave, I’m begging you not to go_

_Call your name two or three times in a row_

_Such a funny thing for me to try to explain_

_How I’m feeling and my pride is the one to blame_

_‘Cause I know I don’t understand_

_Just how your love can do what no one else can_

_Got me looking so crazy right now, your love’s_

_Got me looking so crazy right now_

_Looking so crazy in love’s_

_Got me looking, got me looking so crazy in love_

The song continued for another minute or two and finally faded away. Daisy stared at the walkie talkie with a smile on her lips.

“Are you smiling?” Negan asked.

“I do, crazy.” 


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the lovely support! All the kudos and especially comments make my day! :D

* * *

Dr. Carson had come to check on her later again that day. He had told her that the bullet didn’t do too much damage and her body would heal up soon. Yet the surgery had been tricky, and he said she needs to stay down for a couple more weeks. Once he was gone, Rick returned with a bag filled with some of her belongings. He placed it on the small table beside her bed and kissed her forehead gently.

 “How do you feel?” He asked and sat down. The light outside gave away that it was quite late already.

 “I’m okay. My chest still hurts but I guess that’s normal.” She looked at him. “I’m sorry.”

 He sighed. “I’m not mad at you, Daisy. I just want to understand. What is your plan? Do you even have one?”

 She furrowed her brow. “Plan?”

 “Well, I thought about any possible reason why you would throw yourself between Negan and a gun and the only explanation that makes some sense to me is that you try to get on his good side. Make him trust you. Is that it?”

 She knew she couldn’t just tell him the real reason, mainly because she couldn’t say for sure herself, and so she took the chance he was giving her and went along with it. Slowly she nodded.

 “Yeah. I know it was a silly plan. It wasn’t even a plan. More like a decision within milliseconds. When I saw the gun pointed at him I thought this couldn’t be it. If Rosita shot him, we all would’ve died. His people would’ve made short process with us. I couldn’t risk that. That’s why I jumped in front of him. I know I could’ve died, but I would have died doing the right thing. Right?”

Rick rubbed his stubbled cheek. “I know you wanted to protect us. I just don’t want you to risk your life like that. Promise me you won’t do it again.”

 “I promise.” She smiled lightly. “But, I think my plan is good. Let me be close to him. Let me make him trust me.”

 “Daisy…”

 “I know what I’m doing, dad. Let me handle Negan for a while. He likes me and…and I..I know he does, okay?”

 “What if he tries anything? What if he forces himself on you?”

 “He wouldn’t, trust me. I’ve spent time with him already and he had plenty of opportunities to do anything. What I can say with one hundred percent certainty is that Negan is not a rapist.”

 He looked at her intently for a moment. Finally, he nodded. “I trust you. You know I do. Just…let me think this through for a night. Okay? I can’t just give my permission to let you go after our enemy on your own without giving it a longer thought. We’ll talk again tomorrow. It’s getting late and you’re surely tired.”

 He got up and Daisy grabbed his hand. “Dad?”

 “Mhm?”

“I love you. Never forget that, okay?”

 A soft smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “How could I forget? I love you too. Now sleep.” He squeezed her hand lightly and left the room.

 She waited for another hour to be certain no one would interrupt anymore. She fished the walkie talkie out of her pants.

 “Are you there, crazy?”

 “Right here, missy. How’re you doing tonight?”

 “I’m okay. The doc said I’m doing fine so far, but I have to stay in bed for a couple more weeks. I was lucky.”

 “You sure as hell were. Will you come see me once you’re out of there again?”

 “You mean to the sanctuary?”

 “Yeah, or wherever else. I still have your RV.”

 She chuckled. “What are you suggesting? A roadtrip? Camping and roasting marshmallows over a fire?”

 He laughed. “Hell yeah! That sounds fucking awesome!”

 Daisy remained silent for a second. She had wished for him to come visit her at the Hilltop instead of having to wait for weeks to see him again. “Today I lied to my dad. About you. Us.”

 “Us, huh?”

 “You know what I mean. He wanted to know the reason why I saved your life. He said the only explanation he could come up with is that I am following a plan. To make you trust me so I can destroy you myself.”

“Sounds reasonable. What did you say?”

 “I said yes. Told him that’s my plan and that I need to be around you more to make it convincing.”

 He laughed again. “Damn, missy, you’re good. What did he say?”

 “He has doubts and wants to think about it for tonight. Negan…I feel bad for lying to him. I mean, yeah, I used some little emergency lies here and there before, but…this is big. I feel like I’m betraying my family and friends. On the other hand…I just want to bring everyone together peacefully. I want…” She fell silent.

 “I get it, missy. I do.”

 “No, you know nothing, Negan.” She mumbled to herself before she pushed the button again. “I’m tired. Good night, crazy.”

 “Good night, Daisy.”

* * *

About a week later, Daisy just woke up late afternoon. She had been awake for a few hours in the morning and talked to her dad for a while before he left for Alexandria. Much to her surprise he finally had given his permission for her to pull through her plan. After taking her medication and using the toilet she had felt tired around early noon and slept for a few more hours.

 Slowly, she blinked as she opened her eyes. She was aware that she wasn’t alone. She turned her head and didn’t even try to hide the smile.

 “Are you really here?”

 “I sure am, missy.” Negan grinned. He was sitting on the chair next to her bed.

 She looked around the room, but saw that no one else was there and the door was closed, too.

 “It’s locked, don’t worry.” He said as if he had just read her mind.

 “What are you doing here?” She looked at him again.

 “Hey, you saved my fucking life weeks ago and all I did was thank you through this walkie talkie. That’ not enough.”

 “How convenient that you chose the day my dad returned to Alexandria.” She said amused. “How did you get past Carl though?”

 He laughed. “He put up quite a fight. Nothing I couldn’t handle though.”

 “You didn’t hurt him, did you?” She asked concerned.

 He sighed. “I did not. Simon is babysitting him.”

 She nodded slowly, a soft smile tugged at her lips. “I—I’m happy to see you.”

 Silently, they just looked at each other. For what seemed to last an eternity. She reached over and took his hand in hers. “Maybe I’m naïve but I still hope for a happy ending.” She said quietly. “What happened can’t be reversed. Lives that were taken cannot be brought back. All we have is the future. We can never stop this disease, I know it, you know it…we all know it. It is inside every one of us. But we must try make things work. Peacefully.” She squeezed his hand a little. “We either live together or…die alone.”

 He shifted closer and gently brushed some hair out of her face, his fingertips lingering on her cheek. “I’m giving my people the safety they deserve. I’m providing them with food and meds and even work. You and I…we can make this fucked up world a better place for those who come and seek help. Do you think I drove around and picked up random strangers from the streets to build my sanctuary? No…over the years people started believing in my vision of a safe future. And they all have a choice. They can go. They can stay. But if they stay they must obey some laws. Society can’t work without a set of basic laws. Big groups need a leader. Someone they can come to with their worries and needs. Big groups need workers too.”

 “And some leaders give women a choice to work or be their wife.” She said not even hiding the jealousy in her voice.

 “I already kicked Sherry out.”

Daisy blinked surprised. “What do you mean..kicked her out?”

 “I gave her the choice to pack her damn stuff and leave or work for her stuff. Like many others do too. Dwight’s gonna stay and she decided to stay too.”

 “But…she’s not sleeping with you anymore?”

 “Fuck no, she tried to seduce me on the day this incident happened.” He gestured at her chest.

 She clenched her teeth angrily. “Seriously? Even after I told her I’ll cut her damn throat if she ever touches you again?”

 “Meooow…” Negan made a scratching hand motion with a cheeky grin.

 She just glared at him.

 “Yes, even after you threatened to kill her. But I think she learned her lesson now. I put her on fence duty. We’ll see how she’s holding up.”

 “What about your other wives?”

 “Look, I’m not married to those women. I just called them my wives cause…I thought it fits.”

 “You didn’t answer my question.”

 He tilted his head a little. “What do you want me to do with them?”

 “Let them go. Give them the same choice you gave Sherry. Just…don’t be with them anymore.”

 He nodded slowly. “Yeah…yeah I can do that.”

 “Really?”

 “Yeah, now you just have to answer one of my questions.”

 She shrugged. “Shoot.”

 They both smiled lightly.

 “Will you come live with me permanently?”

 Daisy turned her head and looked out of the window for a moment. She was aware that they were still holding each other’s hand. Safe. That was the first thing she felt while she thought about their hands connected like this. She felt safe with him. Respected. Was what she realized he made her feel. Safety. Respect. And…She looked back at him and felt her tummy do a flip flop and her heart skip a beat.

 “Love…” She mumbled quietly. “I’d love to.” She added and tugged at his hand. He immediately reacted and leaned over her, their lip connecting in a gentle kiss.


	21. Chapter 21

Finally, after almost a whole month, Daisy could get up for good. Even though she had done some walking around the room the past weeks, to the toilet and back, she felt her legs shake a little. But she had only one wish. She stalked over to the bathroom, slowly removed her clothes and stepped under the shower.

It felt like as if she was standing in the garden of Eden under God’s very own fountain. Daisy wasn’t religious at all, yet in this moment she thanked God for providing her with this amazing, warm feeling on her body, washing all the sweat and sorrows off her skin. She had been washed a bit, of course, during the past weeks, but Dr. Carson told her the wound shouldn’t be exposed to water for a couple weeks.

She looked down at herself almost fearful that she might see blood. And she did. Running down along her leg.

“Damn…” She breathed out relaxed and smiled a little. She had already feared that her wound had opened, but it was just her uterus saying hello again. She began washing every little part of her body and stepped out of the shower. Good thing that she had asked her father to bring her the backpack. She pulled out a box of tampons. Enid and her had found several boxes a while ago. Daisy had snatched some for herself without the other girl noticing it. She wasn’t keen to share this precious with one of the other women, not even with her friend. She was sure Enid kept some for herself too, but Daisy couldn’t say for sure.

After she was done and dressed up again in fresh and clean clothes she stood in front of the mirror, her fingertips gently touching her scar. No matter what would happen in the future, this would always be a reminder of her feelings for Negan. Yes, after his visit she couldn’t ignore it any longer. She had feelings for this man. Feelings she shouldn’t have. Not after everything that happened between their groups. She had feelings for the enemy. The forbidden fruit, as Gabriel might have said.

She shook her head with an amused smile and left the bathroom again. She felt much better all cleaned up. She left the room and spotted Carl just entering the house.

“Hey…” She said as she approached him.

“Hey…How do you feel?” He asked as they walked outside together. The air was surprisingly warm for November.

“Good. How’re you holding up?”

He shrugged. “Okay, I guess. Are you ready to go home? Jesus offered to drive us back.”

“I can drive just fine…”

“You’re still on meds.” He said. “Let him drive us.”

She looked over to the gate. Then back at Carl. “You know, maybe I should stay here for a bit longer. Having Dr Carson nearby. Just in case. Why don’t you go back? I’m sure Enid already misses you.” She winked with a cheeky grin.

Carl blushed. “You’re sure?”

“About what now?” She pinched his arm gently.

“Staying here.” He said and looked at her. “I could st—”

“No!” She said maybe a bit too quick. “I mean, no, that’s really not necessary. I’m fine. Go with Jesus.”

Carl looked uncertain for a moment, but finally nodded. “Fine, I’ll go. But you’ll come back soon too, right?”

“Yeah, sure. Why wouldn’t I?” She said amused.

“I don’t know. You still refuse to tell me what you and Negan talked about when he came to visit you here.”

Daisy groaned and stopped. “Please, Carl, would you stop worrying about Negan for a second? As you can see he didn’t hurt me or anything so why not just drop it and move on, huh?” 

“I can’t just drop it and move on while you’re conspiring with the enemy.” He snapped.

Her hand suddenly connected with her brother’s cheek, slapping him right after he said that. Carl groaned and stared at her surprised, rubbing his cheek. Daisy stared at him surprised just as much. Never before had she done something like this to him. And she never thought she would. 

“Carl, I’m…”

He pushed past her and walked over to Jesus leaning against a car. 

“Carl, wait!” Daisy called and wanted to hurry after him but she couldn’t run, her chest stung. She groaned and rubbed her chest lightly while she watched Carl get in the car. Jesus looked rather confused but got in the car too and drove off out of the gate. Tears stung in her eyes as she sank down on the stairs. 

She flinched as a hand touched her shoulder. She looked up and smiled weakly. “Maggie….” 

“It’s good to see you up again.” Maggie sat down next to her. “You look….did something happen?” 

She shrugged. “I….I had a falling out with Carl.” 

“What happened?” 

“He accused me of conspiring with Negan. Which…isn’t true. But when he said that… I got so angry and…I couldn’t stop it, I slapped him. And now he left without another word.” 

Maggie placed an arm around her. “We’re all a little tense. Things will be fine. And hey,” She said with a smile. “We all know you wouldn’t do such a foolish thing.” 

“Still..I shouldn’t have slapped him. He’s my little brother.” 

“He won’t be angry long, don’t worry. 

Daisy nodded slowly. “Yeah, guess so.”

Maggie got up. “Oh, before I forget…Sasha and Rosita arrived this morning. Thought you should know. I think Rosita really feels awful and wants to talk to you.” She said and left Daisy sitting alone on the steps. Her hands balled to fists as she thought about having to face the woman that nearly took Negan’s or her life. She got up and went back to her room, not ready yet to face Rosita again after what happened. 

* * *

As evening drew closer and the Hilltop was covered in darkness, Daisy had packed and shouldered her bag. She snuck out of her room and quietly walked along the hallway towards the exit. She stopped in her tracks as she heard voices coming from a room nearby. Carefully she inched closer to the ajar door and peeked inside. She spotted Maggie, Sasha and Rosita sitting together at the round table in the middle of the room. The only source of light came from an oil lamp and some candles. She saw two glasses of red wine, and one glass of juice.

Anger boiled in her veins as she saw that scene before her. How they chatted so carefree and laughed. Daisy had planned to sneak out of the Hilltop unseen yet she couldn’t just leave without facing Rosita again. She pushed the door open with one hand, the door swung against the wall. The three women looked up surprised.

“Am I interrupting?” 

“Daisy…” Rosita got up. “I’m so s-”

“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry like it would change anything!” Daisy hissed as she stepped a bit more into the room. 

“Daisy, please…” Maggie tried to reason with her but she ignored her, eyes only fixed on Rosita.

“You would have done the same…if you’d have the choice.” Rosita tried to explain her actions. “You saw what he had done to Spencer. We…” She gestured at herself and Sasha and Maggie, “Have seen what he had done to Glenn. To Abraham. You have NO idea what this man is capable of, Daisy. Someone HAD to do something.” 

“Oh please, shut up. You think killing Negan would’ve changed anything? Are you that stupid? These men and women…his Saviors…are loyal to him. Yes, some only follow him because they’re afraid but FUCK IT! They would’ve killed each and every one of us that day if that DAMN bullet would have hit him instead of me. YOU have done NOTHING for us. YOU endangered our group more than Negan ever would! I saved lives by taking the bullet. So don’t you dare say sorry. You better thank me for saving your sorry ass, Rosita!” 

For a moment all that followed was stunned silence as the three women stared at her in shock. 

“Maybe we should all calm down…sit with us, Daisy. Let’s talk about this calmly.” Maggie tried again. 

“No, Maggie. I won’t sit at the same table with her.” She pointe at Rosita. “She is dead to me. Oh, and guess what?” She hissed as she inched a bit closer to Rosita. 

“What?” 

“I gave the word.” She whispered and leaned back a little with a grin. “I told Negan to kill Spencer. And it was…so….satisfying.” She chuckled and turned to the door to leave. 

“You are insane, Daisy. You have changed. And not for the better.” Rosita exclaimed upset, tears stung in her eyes. “What has he done to you? What is it that made you be like…him?” 

Daisy stopped and looked over her shoulder. “You know nothing, Rosita.” 

“Then tell me. Tell us!” 

“Rosita, let her go.” Sasha said calmly. 

“No. I want to hear it from her. What are you doing now? What’s that supposed to mean?” She pointed at the bag. 

“That’s none of your damn business.” Daisy let the bag slide off her shoulder and to the ground as she turned around to face her again. 

“Your father would be ashamed if he could see you now.” Rosita growled. 

The silence that followed could only be described as the moment right before a volcano would erupt. The ominous silence when everyone knows something bad would happen. Suddenly Daisy lunged at Rosita, slapping her hard across the face. Rosita cried out in pain and surprise as she stumbled a little to the table. Sasha caught her before she could hit the ground. 

“Daisy, I know you’re upset but please don’t…”

“Don’t, Maggie.” Daisy shouldered her bag again. “This isn’t about you or Sasha. You two have nothing to apologize for. But I so wished Negan would have had you killed, Rosita. And I still hope he will.” 

And with that she left the room, the house, took one of the cars and drove out of the gate that had been opened for her after a moment of arguing with the guard up on the fence. Hot tears streamed down her face as she drove off into the night, heading towards the lights looming at the horizon as the walls of the sanctuary drew closer and closer. And her smile grew wider and wider. 


	22. Chapter 22

The brakes of the oldtimer squeaked as Daisy stopped on a lookout point on a hill not far from the sanctuary. She kept her lights turned off as to be undetected for now. She rummaged in her backpack and pulled out a pair of binoculars. Looking through she drifted her view across the bit of the yard she could make out from her position.   
She spotted Simon talking to a woman Daisy had never seen before during her time at the place. A bit apart from them she saw Sherry walking along the fence, keeping her distance from the walkers. A smile curled Daisy’s lips as she realised that Negan had told her the truth. He really had put her on fence duty instead of being a wife to him. Oh, how much she still wished though for one of those walkers to grab that bitch and gnaw her face off. 

“And Rosita too.” She muttered and lowered the glasses. She started the motor again and rolled down the path and on the road leading to the gate. She stopped in front of it, lights still turned off. 

“Yo, who’s there?” One of the guards called. He lifted his machine gun and inched closer to the gate. “Show yourself!”

Daisy grinned and took the walkie talkie from the passenger seat. “Knock, knock.” 

Five seconds later Negan’s playful voice said, “Who’s there?”

She smiled. “Daisy.”

“Daisy who?” 

“Daisy me rollin’, they hatin’. Now open the damn gate, crazy.” 

Negan laughed. “Damn, is that really you down there in that fucking awesome oldtimer?” 

“Yep and you should tell your guy at the gate to lower his stupid gun.” 

She saw the man fumble with his own walkie talkie and speak for moment. He looked at her and nodded, lowering the gun. He went to open the gate. Daisy rolled past him and parked next to the trucks. She grabbed her belongings and got out, tapping her fingers against her temple and grinned at the guard. 

“Took you long enough.” She joked at him.

“Could say the same about you.” Negan said behind her. She turned and smiled at him. For a moment they simply got lost in each other’s eyes until she finally embraced him with her arms around his neck.

“I missed you.” She mumbled, enjoying his warm body so close against hers, his strong arms holding her tight. 

“Awwww, don’t go soft on me.” He chuckled and pressed a kiss on top of her head before she let go and looked up at him with a cheeky grin.

“Admit it,you like my soft side just as much as all my other sides.” She said.

He suddenly cupped her cheek. “Have you cried tonight?”

She blinked surprised. “Uhm…well, yeah, a bit, but…it’s nothing, really.” 

“One does not simply fucking cry for nothing. What happened?” He took her backpack and walked over to the door, holding it open for her. She followed him and together they went upstairs to his room. 

“Before I left the Hilltop I had a…confrontation…with Rosita.”

“And that is…?”

“The bitch that tried to kill you.” She grumbled.

“Ah, right, I see.” He put the bag down on the bed and went to the mini-fridge and grabbed two cans of soda. 

“Thanks.” She said as he handed one to her and they sat down on the sofa together. “I was so angry and yelled at her and slapped her hard. I told her that I wish you would’ve killed her right away and that I still hope you’ll do it soon.” 

“Same procedure, missy. You say the word and I act on it.” 

She sipped from her drink and leaned her head against his shoulder. She felt his arm around hers as he held her close. 

“But…that’t not the actual reason that made me cry.”

“What else happened?”

“I had a little fallng out with Carl. I…he..he accused me of conspiring with you. I was so taken aback that I slapped him. He just left without another word and now I feel like crap. Why doesn’t he understand that this….what happens here right now…is not a conspiration? Why doesn’t he understand that it’s…it’s…”

“What is it for you?” He asked softly, his fingertips gently stroking her hand until she intertwined their fingers, squeezing his hand a little. 

“I wouldn’t have imagined that I’d sit here with you like that after everything that happened in the past. Just a few months ago I would’ve liked to slice your throat and leave you bleeding out in a ditch by the road.” 

“Charming.” He chuckled. 

She looked up at him and smiled. “But not anymore. I…”She shifted a bit to sit up straighter. “I feel alive…for the first time in years I feel alive and happy. Really happy. Don’t get me wrong, I love my family and I won’t let it happen that anyone, not even you, destroy them. I will do anything to keep my father and my siblings safe and alive but fuck…” She sighed. “I feel…I feel like…I’m about to fall in love with you. My brain is still fighting, resisting, while my heart already wears a little partyhat and celebrates its feelings for you.” 

He brushed some hair behind her ear. “I fucking love the way you describe things, missy.” 

She shifted and straddled him, his hands drifted down to the small of her back. Tilting his head a little he looked at her expectantly. Her fingertips trailed along his stubble, slowly down his jawline til she touched his lips. He kissed her fingertips gently. 

“Negan…” She breathed out shakily, sucking her bottom lip a little. She gasped and arched as she felt him suck her index finger slowly into his mouth. The warmth and wetness felt so good on her skin. She looked at him as he slowly pulled away, his eyes met hers. Her lips replaced her finger the second it popped out of his mouth, kissing him feverishly. Her hips began rocking on him slowly as his hands drifted under her shirt, up along her back. She was aware of the pleased smirk against her lips as he realized she didn’t wear a bra. 

“Wanna keep….pressure….off my chest…” She mumbled between kisses. 

“No need for exlanations, babygirl.” He chuckled and reached for the hem of her shirt. Daisy lifted her arms and let him remove the shirt. He tossed it away aimlessly and immediately cupped her breasts, his thumbs rubbing almost teasingly over her hard, perky nipples. Daisy moaned softly and leaned closer, her hands dug in his hair while he sucked one nipple into his mouth, tongue twirling around it playfully. After a moment he did the same with her other one all the while she rocked on him. She felt his hard bulge and a shiver ran down her spine. 

“Let’s switch to the bed, shall we, crazy?” She groaned into his ear and bit his earlobe gently. 

“As you wish.” He said and got up, carrying her effortlessly to his bed. He lowered her down onto her back and was about to climb on top of her after kicking off his boots, when she pushed against his chest to make him roll over. He chuckled and let himself roll onto his back. Daisy, again, straddled him. 

“The first time we did this…you’ve done magic with you mouth on me.” She said and pulled his shirt off, revealing his chest covered in dark hair. She had to admit she had quite a thing for hairy chests and she felt her blood pulse in her very core. She leaned down and began kissing his chest, her tongue flickered around his nipples. Negan hummed in pleasure and smiled. 

“Damn, you’re good.” 

“I haven’t even started yet.” She shifted further down until she reached the point in which the line of dark hair vanished in his pants. She looked up at him with just her eyes, a mischievous smirk on her lips. “Like I said…” She went on and undid his belt, the button and slowly unzipped his pants. “You’ve done magic and now it’s my turn.” She winked and tugged his pants along with his underwear down. Negan lifted his butt to make it easier for her to pull his pants down. He kicked them off and watched her marvel at his full grown glory. 

“I am all yours, missy.” 

“You sure as hell are.” She grinned and licked the palm of her hand and reached for him. He sucked in a sharp breath as she wrapped her fingers around him, moving her wet hand up and down along his length nice and slow while her twinkling green eyes were fixed on him as if drinking every little bit of reaction.

“Fuck you’re so fucking amazing.” He groaned, enjoying her long, slow stroked. 

“If you think this is amazing…then let’s see what you think of this.” She leaned down and let her tongue glide up from his balls along his hot, pulsing length til her lips reached the tip, sucking it teasingly for a few moments til she engulfed him into her wet, hot mouth. 

His eyes rolled back as he closed them, deep guttural moan escaped him. His fingers dug into her hair a little while she bopped her head up and down nice and slow. She was quite sloppy but fuck he loved it. 

“Go on, this is so fucking great. Fuck….” He panted. “You’re doing….some fucking magic down there too, missy.” 

She hummed a little, sending vibrations through him. She sucked a bit more and finally let go, only her hand kept going while Negan sat up and kissed her hungrily, passionately. 

“You like that, huh?” She chuckled softly as they caught some breath, their foreheads touching as their hot breaths touched each others skin. 

“Fucking do, Daisy. Fucking do.” 

“Now…do fuck me, Negan.” 

“No need to tell me twice.” He shifted and rolled over on top of her. Daisy wrapped her legs around his waist as he sunk into her deeply. She clung to him with her fingernails digging into his shoulders. 

“Yes…yes that’s it…” She moaned as he started moving. Long, deep and hard strokes made her gasp for air and scream in pleasure. She didn’t give a damn who might hear them or what they might think about her. She was with him. In this moment her mind was blank and all that was racing was her heart. 

“N-Negan….I want you…want you to take me…from behind…” She panted as he slowed down a bit. 

His sweaty hair clung to his head and he panted just as much. “Like…?”

“Just….from behind…” 

He pulled out of her and Daisy rolled over onto her stomach, lifting her butt up a little. His hands cupped her cheeks and squeezed them, then spanked them a bit. 

“Oh…oh damn….” She squeaked and giggled a little in her moan. 

“You have a perfect little butt, Daisy.” He massaged it for a moment and climbed over her, his lips close to her ear while he thrusted into her pussy again. This new angle sent a whole new feeling through her and she cried out in pleasure again, her hands clutching the sheets. 

“This is….so good.” She moaned and was pushed deeper into the mattress with each deep thrust. He kissed her shoulders and bit her neck while he pounded her faster, driving her closer and closer to her first orgasm which hit her hard after just a few more strokes. Daisy cried out, her body shivering beneath him. 

For a moment she could only pant heavily while he pulled out and slowly she turned around, glancing up at him with lustful eyes and rosy cheeks. She put a hand on his chest, enjoying the feeling of his wet hair beneath her fingertip. His heartbeat was strong and they stayed silent for a moment til she shifted again and pulled him down on top of her once more, their lips locking in a now much more sensual kiss. He pushed into her again, nice and slow this time. 

Something had changed. The pace. The atmosphere. Daisy couldn’t quite pinpoint how and why and what but she just felt it. She felt the resistance of her mind crumble now that the heated, passionate lust had turned into sensual and slow love making. His lips hovered close above hers, his deep and low moans drove her quite crazy. 

His hands pushed hers up a little on both sides of her head, their fingers intertwined while he kept thrusting. They both were close to their final climax. They gazed at each other as Negan hit a spot in her that made the stars explode in her head. She tightened up on him with a long, low moan mixed with his own deep groan and felt his hot release in her as his own climax hit him. Once completely spent he broke down on her but immediately shifted to keep his weight off her. Daisy snuggled against him, gently rubbing his chest while he stroked her arm. 

“You are mine…” She whispered after a moment of silence. 

“Mmmh….and you are mine.” He pressed his lips on top of her head. 

Daisy put her chin on his chest and smile at him. “From this day…”

He smiled back at her. “Til the end of my days.” 

And so their lips met again. 


End file.
